^ 

fc^/ 


Id.  2  <-  ._UetCJier 

7       /'  V- 

«/z  a  L  i  c  is 


THE   ACTBESS 


HIGH    LIFE: 


AN    EPISODE    IN    WINTER    QUARTERS. 


"  Grim-Visag'd  War  hath  smooth'd  his  wrinkled  front 
And  now,  instead  of  mounting  barbed  steeds, 
To  fright  the  souls  of  fearful  adversaries, 
lie  capers  nimbly  in  a  lady's  chamber, 
To  the  lascivious  pleasing  of  a  luto." 


NEW    YORK: 

DERBY  &  JACKSON. 

1860. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1SCO,  in  the  dork's  office  of  the 
District  .Court  of  South  Carolina.    .    . 


C.  A.  ALVORD,  PRINTER,  NEW  YORK. 


THE'ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE; 


AN    EPISODE    IN    WINTER    QUARTERS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

I  was  a  traveler,  then,  upon  the  moor, 
I  saw  the  hare  that  raced  about  with  joy, 

I  heard  the  woods  and  distant  waters  roar, 
Or  heard  them  not,  as  happy  as  a  boy ; 
The  pleasant  season  did  my  heart  employ. 

My  old  remembrances  went  from  me  wholly, 

And  all  the  ways  of  men  so  vain  and  melancholy. 

WORDSWORTH. 


GENTLE  READER  :  Wherever  you  may  be,  in  bodily 
presence,  when  you  cast  your  eyes  on  this  page,  let  it 
for  a  few  hours  transport  your  complying  spirit  to  a 
remote  region  and  a  bygone  day.  We  may  alter 
names  without  injury  to  our  story;  but  every  real 
character,  or  event,  has  its  own  time,  place,  and  acci 
dents;  to  tear  it  from  them  is  like  transplanting  a 
tree  from  its  native  spot;  it  must  be  trimmed  and 
pruned,  and  robbed  of  its  due  proportions  and  its 
natural  grace. 

1  M33483 


10 >  t*»:V! JTHE: ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

Here,  then,  on  this  lovely  day,  near  the  end  of  the 
year  1812,  you  are  in  Alemtejo — the  largest,  poorest, 
and,  in  every  sense,  worst  peopled  province  of  Portu 
gal.  As  its  name  implies,  you  are,  as  to  Lisbon, 
beyond  the  Tagns.  Hasten  eastward  over  this  sandy, 
arid  plain,  covered  with  a  forest  of  stunted  sea-pines, 
through  whose  tops  the  west  wind  glides  with  monot 
onous  and  melancholy  moans,  fit  music  for  the  wilder 
ness  around  you.  Nor  need  you  loiter  on  this  desolate 
moor,  scantily  carpeted  with  heaths  of  different  kinds 
and  varying  hues.  The  drowsy  tinkling  of  the  cow 
bell  amidst  yonder  brushwood,  the  goats  sportively 
clambering  over  that  ledge  of  rocks,  and  those  dis 
tant  dusky  spots  upon  the  downs,  which  may  be  sheep, 
tell  you.  that  all  life  has  not  left  the  land.  You  may, 
perchance,  on  your  journey,  see  a  goatherd  or  a  shep 
herd  here  or  there  ;  by  rarer  chance  may  meet  some 
wayfarer  like  yourself,  but  as  likely  a  robber  as  an 
honest  man  ;  and  may  find  shelter,  at  least,  in  one  of 
the  few  and  comfortless  vcndas,  the  wretched  inns  the 
route  affords. 

You  need  not  pause  to  gaze  on  many  a  wild  scene, 
some  beautiful,  and  even  here  and  there  a  fertile  spot; 
nor  loiter  in  this  provincial  town — rich,'  perhaps,  in 
Moorish  ruins,  but  in  nothing  else — but  hasten  onward 
till  you  reach  that  elevated  point,  where  the  road,  one 
hundred  miles  from  Lisbon,  winds  over  the  ridge  of 
yonder  hill.  The  chilly  night  winds  of  the  peninsula 
have  gone  to  sleep.  Here,  even  in  midwinter,  the  sun 
at  this  hour  shoots  down  scorching  rays  upon  your  head. 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  11 

Seat  yourself  by  the  road-side,  on  this  ledge  of  slate- 
rock,  at  the  foot  of  the  cork-oak,  which  so  invitingly 
spreads  out  its  sheltering  arms.  Here  while  you  take 
breath,  cast  your  eyes  around  yon. 

You  are  no  longer  in  the  midst  of  broken,  desolate 
wastes.  To  the  south-west  rises  the  Serra  d'Ossa — its 
sides  clothed  with  evergreen  oaks,  and  a  dense  growth 
of  underbrush  sheltering  the  wolf  and  the  wild  boar, 
while  the  northern  slope  of  its  rocky  ridge  is  thatched 
with  snow.  Before  you  is  spread  out  the  valley  of  the 
Guadiana.  Sloping  downward  toward  the  mighty 
stream,  lie  pasture,  grove  and  field,  gaily  mingled  to 
gether.  There,  to  the  east,  sits  Elvas,  on  a  lofty  hill, 
whose  sides  are  covered  with  vineyards,  oliveyards 
and  orchards,  and  just  north  of  it,  on  a  yet  loftier 
peak,  with  a  deep  narrow  valley  lying  between  them, 
stands  the  crowning  castle  of  La  Lippe,  the  strongest 
fortress  in  Portugal.  Far  beyond,  but  plainly  seen 
through  the  clear  atmosphere  of  the  peninsula,  now 
doubly  transparent  since  it  has  been  purified  by  the 
heavy  rains  which  here  usher  in  the  winter,  rises  the 
blue  mountain  of  Albuquerque,  far  away  in  Spanish 
Estremadura.  Whichever  way  you  look,  Sierras,  nearer 
or  more  distant,  tower  above  the  horizon,  or  fringe  its 
utmost  verge. 

Among  these  scenes  of  nature's  handiwork,  a  pro 
duction  of  human  art  demands  your  attention.  See, 
on  your  right,  the  beginning  of  the  ancient  aqueduct, 
reared  by  Moorish  hands,  which  leads  the  pure  moun 
tain  stream  for  three  miles  across  the  valley  to  the 


12  THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

city  seated  on  the  hill.  Here,  the  masonry  is  but  a 
foot  or  two  above  the  ground ;  below,  the  road  will 
lead  you  under  its  three  tiers  of  arches,  with  the  water 
gliding  an  hundred  feet  above  your  head. 

But  here  comes  a  native  of  this  region  to  enliven, 
if  not  adorn,  the  landscape.  This  lean,  swarthy  young 
fellow,  under  his  soinbrero  with  ample  brim,  exhibits 
a  fair  specimen  of  the  peasants  of  Alemtejo.  His 
sheep-skin  jacket  hangs  loosely  from  his  shoulders, 
and  between  his  nether  garment  and  his  clumsy  shoes, 
he  displays  the  greater  part  of  a  pair  of  sinewy  legs, 
which  \vould  be  brown,  were  they  not  so  wrell  pow 
dered  with  the  slate  dust  of  the  rocky  road  he  travels. 
With  a  long  goad  he  urges  on  the  panting  beasts, 
yoked  to  the  rudest  of  all  vehicles — the  bullock  cart 
of  Portugal.  Its  low  wheels,  made  of  solid  wooden 
blocks,  are  fastened  to  the  axle-tree,  which  turns  with 
them,  and  at  every  step  squeaks  out  complaining 
notes  under  the  burden  of  a  cask  of  the  muddy  and 
little  prized  wine  of  the  province,  which  is  seeking  a 
market  at  Elvas. 

The  carter  is  now  overtaken  by  a  peasant  girl,  who, 
with  basket  on  her  arm,  has  been  gathering  chesnuts 
and  bolotas  in  the  wood.  They  are  no  strangers  to 
each  other,  and  she  exchanges  her  brisk,  elastic  step, 
for  a  pace  better  suited  to  that  of  the  toiling  oxen. 
The  beauty  of  this  dusky  belle  consists  of  a  smiling 
mouth,  bright  black  eyes,  and  youth  and  health. 
Though  fond  of  gaudy  colors,  she  is  not  over  dressed. 
A  light  handkerchief  rather  binds  her  raven  hair  than 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  13 

covers  her  head.  Her  bright  blue  petticoat,  scanty  in 
length,  and  her  orange-colored  spencer,  open  in  front, 
both  well  worn,  and  showing  here  and  there  a  rent, 
but  half  conceal  the  graces  of  her  form,  and  a  pair 
of  nimble  feet,  scorning  the  trammels  of  leather,  pick 
their  way  skillfully  along  the  stony  path.  That  she 
does  not  contemn  ornament,  is  'shown  by  her  one 
small  golden  ear-ring,  long  since  divorced  from  its 
mate,  and  the  devout  faith  which  glows  in  her  bosom 
is  symbolized  by  the  little  silver  image  of  our  lady, 
slung  from  her  neck  by  a  silken  cord,  spun  by  her 
own  silk  worms,  and  twisted  by  her  own  hands.  In 
short,  she  is  neither  beautiful,  nor  noble,  nor  rich  ; 
yet  her  company  seems  instantly  to  smooth  the  road 
and  lighten  the  toils  of  travel  to  her  swain.  He  helps 
himself,  unasked,  out  of  her  basket,  and  urges  her  to 
partake  of  the  stores  of  his  leathern  wallet — hard 
goat's  cheese — and  the  crumbling  loaf  of  broa,  or 
maize  bread.  Soon  in  deep  and  sweet  conference,  in 
their  crabbed,  but  expressive  tongue,  he  forgets  to 
make  occasional  use  of  his  goad,  and  thus  keeping 
pace  with  the  loitering  bullocks,  they  go  leisurely 
along.  Let  them  pass  on,  and  wait  for  better  game. 

Turn  and  look  at  this  cavalcade  toiling  up  toward 
you.  A  sudden  bend  in  the  road  has  brought  it  into 
view,  and  its  aspect,  half  native,  half  foreign — its 
mixed  civil  and  military  character — attract  attention. 
Two  mounted  orderlies,  in  a  British  uniform,  lead  the 
way,  and  are  followed  by  a  clumsy  Lisbon  coach, 
every  part  of  it  well  laden  with  luggage.  It  is  drawn 


14  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

by  four  noble  mules,  such  as  are  seldom  seen  out  of 
the  peninsula,  deserving  more  stylish  postillions  than 
those  who,  in  ragged  jackets,  greasy  leathern  breeches 
and  huge  jack  boots,  are  urging  them  on.  Two  men 
sit  at  ease  on  the  coach  box.  One,  a  tall  young  fellow, 
looks  at  a  distance  like  a  field-officer  in  a  flashy  uni 
form,  but  is  only  a"n  English  footman  in  a  gaudy 
livery,  who  needs  the  training  of  a  London  winter  or 
two,  in  a  fashionable  household,  to  make  him  a  flunky 
of  the  first  water.  The  other,  an  old  man,  with  a 
severe  countenance,  is  plainly  dressed,  but,  with  a  less 
brilliant  exterior,  has  a  more  respectable  air  than  his 
companion.  He,  too,  is  the  man  in  authority  as,  from 
time  to  time,  he  directs  the  party  and  urges  them  on 
in  somewhat  impatient  tones. 

If  you  are  familiar  writh  the  country  and  the  times, 
you  may  imagine  that  some  British  general  officer  has 
been  so  long  in  the  peninsula,  that  he  has  adopted  the 
style  and  equipage  of  Cuesta,  and  some  other  Spanish 
leaders,  and  fallen  into  their  habits  of  slow  and  digni 
fied  motion.  You  will  think  it  high  time  for  him  to 
be  sent  home,  that  some  one  less  luxurious  and  state 
ly,  but  more  alert  and  energetic,  may  fill  his  place. 
One  look  into  the  coach  will  undeceive  you.  Its  chief 
occupant  is  a  lady,  whose  years  do  not  exceed  nine 
teen  ;  and  she  is  evidently  no  native  of  Alemtejo,  nor 
of  Portugal ;  and  might  have  been  sent  out  hither  as 
a  specimen  of  what  a  more  northern  country  can  occa 
sionally  produce.  While  she  looks  out  with  deep,  yet 
lively  interest  on  the  scenery  before  and  around  her, 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  15 

you  naturally  gaze  with  deeper  interest  only  upon  her. 
Her  companion  is  her  maid,  some  years  older  than 
herself,  who  might  be  worth  looking  at,  were  her  mis 
tress  out  of  the  way. 

One  of  the  orderlies,  turning  in  his  saddle,  now 
points  out  the  city  to  the  old  man,  who,  in  turn,  leans 
over  to  the  coach  window,  and  calls  out,  "  My  lady, 
there  is  Elvas !" 

"And  my  father  is  in  Elvas!"  She  leans  eagerly 
out  of  the  window ;  but  the  front  of  the  clumsy  vehi 
cle  obstructs  the  view,  and  she  calls  out,  "  Stop  the 
coach,  Hoodie,  and  let  me  out.  I  will  not  go  one 
step  further  until  I  have  taken  a  good  look  at  Elvas." 
The  old  man  testily  orders  a  halt.  The  footman 
opens  the  door,  and  the  lady  springs  lightly  out,  fol 
lowed  by  her  maid.  Neglecting  all  -other  objects  in 
sight,  she  gazes  long  and  eagerly  at  the  city  seated  on 
the  hill.  The  interest  she  shows  is  no  longer  merely 
that  of  observant  curiosity,  but  is  prompted  by  the 
gushing  affections  of  the  heart.  In  Elvas,  besides 
much  new  and  strange,  there  is  something  known  and 
loved. 

She  now  begins  to  question  the  orderlies  as  to  the 
exact  spot  where  her  father  has  quartered  himself;  but 
the  old  man  interrupts  her  : 

"  You  have  traveled  a  long  way,  my  lady,  to  get 
to  Elvas,  but  you  will  never  reach  it  while  you  stand 
looking  at  it  and  spiering  about  it." 

"  Very  true,  old  Wisdom.  How  comes  it  that  you 
are  always  in  the  right?  Let  us  push  on  now,  and  in 


16  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

an  hour,"  she  exclaims,  stepping  into  the  coach,  "  I 
will  see  my  father,  for  the  first  time  since  I  was  four 
teen." 

The  coach  moves  on,  but  too  slowly  for  her.  Lean 
ing  out  of  the  window,  and  surveying  the  road,  she 
calls  out  gaily,  "  Our  way  lies  down  hill,  Moodie,  and 
they  tell  me  that  mules  are  so  sure-footed  that  they 
never  stumble.  Pray  buy  or  borrow  that  long  goad 
from  the  young  gentleman  in  the  sheep-skin  jacket. 
By  skillful  use  of  it  you  might  mend  our  pace,  and 
bring  us  sooner  to  Elvas." 

"We  will  leave  this  impatient  lady  to  hasten  on  to 
Elvas,  whether  expedited  or  not  by  the  use  of  the  goad, 
to  inquire  the  occasion  of  her  journey  thither. 

For  five  years  the  peninsula  has  been  one  battle 
field,  and  the  present  has  been  one  of  unceasing  activ 
ity  to  the  British  troops.  Beginning  the  year  by  sud 
denly  crossing  the  frontier  and  investing  Ciudad  Rod- 
rigo,  they  had  taken  it  by  storm  in  January,  while  the 
French  were  preparing  to  relieve  it.  Equally  unex 
pectedly  crossing  the  Tagus  and  the  Guadiana,  they 
had  sat  down  before  the  strong  fortress  of  Badajoz, 
and  to  save  a  few  precious  days,  in  which  Soult  and 
Marmont  might  have  united  their  hosts  to  its  rescue, 
they,  in  April,  took  it  in  a  bloody  assault,  buying  im 
mediate  possession  at  the  price  of  more  than  a  thou 
sand  precious  lives.  No  sooner  had  the  disappointed 
Marshals  withdrawn  their  armies  to  less  exhausted 
regions,  than  the  forts  of  Almarez  were  surprised  in 
May,  and  the  direct  route  of  communication  between 


THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  17 

them  cut  off.  The  British  army  then  invaded  Spain 
on  the  side  of  the  kingdom  of  Leon  :  the  forts  of  Sal 
amanca  fell  before  them  in  June,  and  in  July  the 
battle  of  Salamanca  crushed  the  French  force  in  that 
quarter,  and  opened  the  road  to  Madrid  to  the  British, 
who,  driving  thence  the  intrusive  king,  acquired  the 
control  of  all  central  Spain.  But,  at  length,  in  Oc 
tober,  the  castle  of  Burgos  defied  their  utmost  efforts, 
unaided  by  a  siege-train.  The  French  hosts  from 
north,  south  and  east,  abandoning  rich  provinces  and 
strong  fortresses  they  had  held  for  years,  gathered 
around  them  in  overwhelming  numbers;  and  slowly, 
reluctantly,  and  with  many  a  stubborn  halt,  the  Eng 
lish  general  retraced  his  steps  toward  Portugal.  The 
prostrated  strength  of  both  armies  put  an  end  to  the 
campaign.  The  French  gave  up  the  pursuit,  being  too 
hungry  to  march  further,  or  to  fight  any  more ;  and 
the  discipline  and  appetites  of  the  British  soldiers  were 
indicated,  on  their  march  through  the  forests  bordering 
the  Huebra,  by  the  fusilade  opened  on  the  herds  of 
swine,  which  were  fattening  on  the  acorns  there.  For 
a  moment  their  commander  thought  himself  surprised, 
and  that  the  country,  for  miles  around,  was  the  scene 
of  one  wide-spread  skirmish  with  the  foe.  Even  hang 
ing  a  few  of  his  men  did  not  put  a  stop  to  the  disorder. 
Late  in  November  the  troops  were  permitted  to  pause 
for  rest,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo,  with 
their  energies  prostrated  and  their  discipline  relaxed 
through  the  sieges  and  battles,  the  continual  marches, 
the  exposure  and  the  want  of  a  campaign  so  long  and 
1* 


18  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

arduous  as  this.  Strange  it  seemed  to  them,  after  go 
ing  so  far,  and  doing  and  suffering  so  much,  that  they 
should  end  the  campaign  where  they  had  begun  it. 
Yet  they  had  done  much :  wrenching  the  larger  and 
richer  half  of  Spain  out  of  the  grasp  of  the  French, 
and  changing  their  possession  of  the  country  to  a  mere 
invasion  of  it. 

Such  toils  need  long  rest.  Privations  and  sufferings 
like  theirs  should  be  repaid  by  no  scanty  measure  of 
plenty  and  enjoyment.  The  troops  went  into  winter 
quarters  chiefly  between  the  Douro  and  the  Tagus ; 
but,  as  an  army  in  this  country  is  always  in  danger  of 
starvation,  a  brigade  was  sent  over  into  Alerntejo,  at 
once,  to  make  themselves  comfortable,  and  to  facilitate 
getting  up  supplies  from  a  province  which  now  had 
something  in  it :  as,  for  four  years,  the  French  had 
been  kept  out  of  it. 

Accordingly,  it  was  absolutely  refreshing  to  see  the 
liberal  provision  made  for  the  almost  insatiable  wants 
of  this  brigade — for  among  them  our  story  lies.  They 
proved  themselves  good  soldiers,  to  a  man,  in  their  zeal 
to  refresh  and  strengthen  themselves  against  the  next 
campaign,  by  enjoying,  to  the  full,  every  good  thing 
within  their  reach.  The  officers,  especially,  ransacked 
the  country  for  every  commodity  that  could  promote 
enjoyment ;  and  what  Alerntejo  could  not  furnish,  Lis 
bon  and  London  must  provide.  Nothing  was  too 
costly  for  their  purses,  no  place  too  distant  for  their 
search.  Doubtless,  the  veterans  of  the  greatest  of  all 
great  captains  were  permitted  for  a  time  to  run  a  free 


THE   ACTRESS   IX   HIGH    LIFE.  19 

and  joyous  career  in  Capua ;  and  this  brigade,  besides 
having  a  little  corner  of  Portugal  to  themselves,  some 
what  out  of  sight  of  the  Commander-in-chief  and  of 
Sir  Rowland  Hill,  enjoyed  the  further  advantage  of 
being  led  by  a  good  soldier  in  the  field,  and  a  free- 
liver  in  garrison  and  camp,  wrho  looked  upon  his  men 
in  winter  quarters,  after  a  hard  campaign,  sornewThat 
in  the  light  of  school-boys  in  the  holidays,  and  was 
willing  to  see  the  lads  enjoy  themselves  freely. 

Lord  Strathern,  a  veteran  somewhat  the  worse  for 
wear,  had  entered  the  army  a  cadet  of  a  Scotch  family, 
more  noble  than  rich.  At  length,  the  obliging  death 
of  a  cousin  brought  him  a  Scotch  peerage,  and  an 
estate  little  adequate  to  support  that  dignity.  High 
rank,  and  a  narrow  estate,  form  an  inconvenient  union ; 
so  he  stuck  to  the  profession  which  he  loved,  and, 
being  a  widower,  entrusted  his  only  child,  a  daughter, 
to  a  sister  in  Scotland. 

Though  he  had  seen  little  of  domestic  life,  he  was 
an  affectionate  man.  The  briskness  of  the  last  cam 
paign,  and  the  number  of  his  friends  who  dropped  off 
in  the  course  of  it,  strongly  warned  him  that  if  he 
would  once  again  see  his  daughter,  now  attaining 
womanhood,  it  wonjjl  be  well  to  lose  no  time  about  it. 
So,  one  morning,  during  the  retreat  from  Burgos,  after 
issuing  the  brigade  orders  for  the  day,  he  penned  an 
order  to  his  sister  in  Scotland,  to  send  out  the  young 
lady,  with  proper  attendants,  under  the  care  of  the 
wife  of  any  officer  of  rank  who  might  be  sailing  for 


20  THE   ACTRESS   IX   HIGH   LIFE. 

Lisbon.  There  she  would  be  within  reach,  and  lie 
might  find  leisure  to  visit  her. 

His  sister  would  have  protested  against  this  had  she 
had  an  opportunity ;  but  the  order  of  the  father,  and 
the  affectionate  and  adventurous  spirit  of  the  daughter, 
at  once  decided  the  matter.  On  her  arrival,  however, 
in  Lisbon,  her  father  was  too  busy  establishing  his 
brigade  in  comfortable  quarters,  to  meet  her  there ; 
and  the  military  horizon  giving  promise  of  a  quiet 
winter,  he  summoned  her  to  join  him  at  Elvas. 

The  brigade  had  been  for  some  weeks  living  in  clo 
ver  in  their  modern  Capua,  when  Lady  Mabel  Stewart 
joined  her  father.  A  Portuguese  provincial  town, 
with  its  filthy  streets  and  squalid  populace,  could  be 
no  agreeable  place  of  residence  to  a  British  lady.  Lord 
Strathern  felt  this,  and,  looking  about  him,  found  a 
large  building  in  the  midst  of  an  orchard  without  the 
walls  of  Elvas,  and  more  than  half-way  down  the  hill. 
It  had  been  erected  by  one  of  the  monastic  societies 
of  the  city,  as  a  place  of  occasional  retirement  for 
pleasure,  or  devotion,  or  both.  The  French  had  sum 
marily  turned  them  out  of  it  five  years  before,  and  so 
thoroughly  plundered  them,  at  the  same  time,  that 
they  had  not  since  found  heart  or^neans  to  repair  and 
refurnish  it.  Accordingly,  it  was  a  good  deal  dilap 
idated.  But  the  refectory  and  the  kitchen  took  his 
lordship's  eye.  The  former  could  dine  half  the  officers 
of  the  brigade  at  a  time,  and  the  latter  allowed  abund 
ant  elbow-room  to  cooks  and  scullions,  while  prepar 
ing  the  feast.  So,  here  he  established  the  headquarters 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  21 

of  his  brigade,  and  here  Lady  Mabel  Stewart  made 
her  appearance  in  the  new  dignity  of  womanhood,  to 
preside  over  his  household. 


22  THE  ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  II. 

"  OH  sovereign  beauty,  you  whose  charms 

All  other  charms  surpass ; 
Whose  lustre  nought  can  imitate, 
Except  your  looking-glass. 

SOUTHEY,  from  the  Spanish. 

THE  arrival  of  Lady  Mabel  Stewart  was  a  god-send 
to  the  young  officers  of  the  brigade.  Already  the 
sources  of  interest  afforded  by  the  country  around, 
began  to  fail  them.  Few  men  can  long  make  a  busi 
ness  of  mere  eating  and  drinking ;  red-legged  par 
tridges  were  getting  scarce  in  that  neighborhood)  and 
boar  hunting  in  the  mountain  forests  was  distant,  la 
borious,  and  too  often,  fruitless  of  game.  The  scenery 
of  the  country,  the  costume  and  habits  of  the  people, 
now  familiar  to  their  eyes,  palled  upon  their  tastes. 
They  wanted  something  new  to  interest  them,  and 
were  particularly  delighted  when  this  novelty  came 
from  home.  But,  above  all,  the  black-haired,  dark- 
eyed  daughters  of  this  sunny  region  grew  many  shades 
browner  in  their  eyes.  We  look  not  at  the  daffodils 
when  the  lily  rears  its  head.  A  new  and  higher  order 
of  beauty,  rare  even  at  home,  now  demanded  homage, 
and  it  was  freely  paid. 

Lord  Strathern,  a  social  and  jovial  man,  had  always 
been  a  favorite  with  his  subalterns,  but  now  his  pop- 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  23 

ularity  attained  its  acme.  His  open  house  became 
headquarters,  even  more  in  a  social  than  a  military 
sense.  It  was  a  little  court,  and  Lady  Mabel  played 
the  queen  regnant  there. 

Justly  proud  of  her,  her  father  encouraged  this, 
taking  all  the  attention  she  attracted  as  compliments 
to  himself;  and  the  gentlemen  displayed  great  inge 
nuity  in  devising  various  excuses  for  being  in  frequent 
attendance  at  headquarters,  in  the  service  of  her  lady 
ship.  Lieutenant  Goring,  the  best  horseman  in  the 

light  dragoons,  a  squadron  of  which  had  been 

sent  hither  with  the  brigade,  to  fatten  their  emaciated 
steeds  on  the  barley  and  maize  of  Alemtejo,  estab 
lished  himself,  uninvited,  in  the  post  of  equerry,  and 
sedulously  devoted  himself  to  training  the  beautiful 
Andalusian  provided  for  Lady  Mabel's  own  saddle. 
Of  course,  he  had  to  be  in  attendance  when  she  took 
the  air  on  horseback.  Major  Warren,  from  a  free, 
heedless  sportsman,  who  followed  his  game  for  his 
own  pleasure,  became  gamekeeper,  or  rather,  grand 
huntsman,  bound  to  lay  the  feathered,  furred,  and 
scaly  tribes  under  contribution  to  supply  her  table 
and  tempt  her  delicate  appetite.  A  proud  and  happy 
man  was  he  when  skill  or  fortune  enabled  him  to  lay 
the  an  tiered  stag  or  tusked  boar  at  her  feet,  and  ex 
patiate  on  the  incidents  of  his  sylvan  campaign.  He, 
of  course,  must  be  often  invited  to  partake  of  the  so 
cial  meal.  Captain  Cranfield,  of  the  engineers,  had 
just  returned  from  Badajoz,  where  he  had  been  repair 
ing  shattered  bastions,  and  patching  up  curtains  sadly 


24  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

torn  by  shot  and  shell.  He  found  Lady  Mabel  busy 
renovating,  modernising  and  adorning  the  rude  and 
comfortless  apartments  of  her  monastic  quarters.  Im 
mediately  his  pencil,  his  professional  ingenuity  and 
skill  are  devoted  to  her  service.  He  appoints  himself 
architect,  upholsterer  and  improver-general  to  the 
household.  He  designed  elegant  curtains,  with  grace 
ful  festoons  for  the  misshapen  windows,  tasteful  hang 
ings  to  conceal  bare  walls  of  rough-hewn  stone,  pic 
turesque  screens  to  hide  unsightly  corners ;  and  ar 
ranged  and  put  them  up  with  as  much  skill  as  if,  with 
a  native  genius  for  it,  he  had  been  bred  to  the  busi 
ness.  The  commonest  materials  became  rich  chintz 
and  costly  arras  in  his  hands,  mahogany,  or  rose-wood, 
at  his  bidding.  One  morning  so  spent  put  him  on  an 
easier  footing  with  Lady  Mabel  than  a  dozen  casual 
meetings  ;  and  he  quite  got  the  weather  gage  of  both 
equerry  and  huntsman,  securing  frequent  and  easy  in 
tercourse,  while  advising  and  assisting  her  in  his  in 
ter-menial  capacity,  whereas  these  gentlemen's  spheres 
of  official  duty  lay  properly  out  of  doors.  But  he 
soon  found  a  dangerous  rival  to  take  the  wind  out  of 
his  sails,  in  the  person  of  Major  Lurnley,  who,  pos 
sessing  great  taste  and  skill  in  music,  accidentally 
heard  Lady  Mabel  singing  in  one  room,  while  he  was 
conversing  with  her  father  in  the  next.  "  She  has," 
thought  and  said  the  major,  "  the  sweetest  voice  in 
the  world ;  and  it  only  needs  a  little  more  cultivation 
to  make  it  heavenly !"  Lord  Strathern  thought  so 
too.  The  major's  instructive  talents  were  put  into 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  25 

requisition,  and,  from  private  practice,  her  father  led 
her  on,  somewhat  reluctant,  to  more  public  display, 
and  soon  the  major  and  herself  discoursed  exquisite 
music  to  the  ears  of  a  score  of  officers,  at  a  musical 
soiree.  If,  with  the  powers,  she  did  not  acquire  the 
confidence  of  a  prima  donna,  it  was  not  his  lord 
ship's  fault.  Had  propriety  permitted,  he  would  have 
brought  up  the  brigade  in  close  column  of  divisions, 
to  hear  Lady  Mabel  sing  ;  and  he  could  not  help  say 
ing  to  the  gentlemen  beside  him:  "I  have  heard  you 
young  fellows  talk  about  the  nightingale,  and  have 
even  known  some  of  you  spend  hours  in  the  moon 
lit  grove,  listening  to  their  music,  but  my  bird  from 
foggy  Scotland  can  out-warble  a  wood  full  of  them." 
And  no  one  felt  disposed  to  contradict  him. 

How  many  others,  irresistibly  attracted,  sought, 
each  in  his  own  way,  to  make  himself  agreeable,  we 
will  not  undertake  to  say.  Perhaps  Ensign  AVade, 
who,  not  yet 'eighteen,  had  just  been  rubbing  off  the 
school-boy  in  the  last  campaign,  was  the  most  madly 
in  love  with  her ;  unless  he  was  surpassed  by  little 
Captain  Hatton,  who,  being  but  five  feet  three,  had, 
to  the  great  injury  of  his  marching  powers,  magnani 
mously  added  an  extra  inch  to  his  boot  heels,  that 
Lady  Mabel  might  not  look  too  much  down  upon  him, 
when  so  happy  as  to  stand  beside  her. 

Hers  was  a  curious  position  for  a  lady,  and,  yet, 
more  for  one  so  young.  She  instinctively  looked 
round  for  the  countenance  and  support  which  only 
female  companions  could  give.  But,  of  the  very  few 


26  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

ladies  with  the  brigade,  Mrs.  Colonel  Coiville  was  at 
Portalegre,  where  her  husband's  regiment  was  quar 
tered,  the  wife  of  Major  Grey  was  shut  up  with  him 
in  his  sick  room  ;  Mrs.  Captain  Howe  had  come  out 
from  home  less  to  visit  her  husband  than  to  cure  her 
rheumatism  in  the  balmy  climate  of  Elvas;  and  the 
wife  of   Captain  Ford  had  just,   very  injudiciously, 
presented  him  with  two  little  Portuguese,  who  might 
have  made  very  good  Englishmen,  had  they  h'rst  seen 
the  light  in  the  right  place.     If  the  brigade  had  suf 
fered  heavy  loss  in  the  last  campaign,  the  ladies  of  the 
brigade  were  absolutely  hors  de  combat,  and  could  not 
furnish  Lady  Mabel  even  a  sentinel  in  the  shape  of  a 
chaperon.     She  felt  that  this  was  awkward  ;  but,  said 
she  to  herself,  "If  there  were  any  impropriety  in  my 
situation  here,  Papa  wo'uld  not  open  his  house  so  free 
ly  to  the  officers  of  the  brigade."     For  she  loved  and 
admired  him  far  too  much  to  doubt  his  judgment  on 
such  a  point.     Now,  Lord  Strathern   had   dined  the 
better  part  of  his  life  at  a  regimental  mess  table  ;  and 
when  promotion   at  length  removed   him  from  that 
genial  sphere,  he  felt  seltish  and  solitary,  if  he  took 
his  dinner  and  wine  without,   at  least,  a  corporal's 
guard  of  his  brother  officers  around  him.     So  far  from 
deeming  his  daughter's  arrival  a  reason  for  excluding 
them,  she  was  a  strong  ally,  and  a  delightful  addition 
to  his  means  of  entertaining  his  friends.     So  she  found 
herself  suddenly  the  centre  of  a  circle,  composed  of 
gentlemen  only,  most  of  them  unmarried,  young  and 
gay,  and  admiring  her.     In  short,  Lady  Mabel  was 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  27 

finishing  off  her  education  in  a  very  bad  school, 
worse,  perhaps,  than  a  Frenchified  academy,  devoted 
to^tlie  education  of  the  extremities,  in  the  shape  of 
music,  dancing  and  gabbling  French,  with  a  dash  of 
mental  and  moral  training  in  the  development  of  the 
sickly  imagination  of  the  head  and  the  empty  vanities 
of  the  heart. 

For  a  time  the  dilapidated  condition  of  kitchen  and 
refectory  restricted  the  scale  of  hospitality  at  head 
quarters.  But  Lady  Mabel  soon  completed  her  re 
forms  of  house  and  household,  in  which  she  found  old 
Moodie  an  able  assistant.  Captain  Cranfield  had  to 
bring  his  labors  of  love  to  an  end,  and  Lord  Strathern 
celebrated  the  event  by  feasting  a  large  party  of  his 
friends. 

While  the  company  was  assembled,  Lady  Mabel 
led  a  party  of  the  first  comers  through  the  apart 
ments,  to  admire  the  results  of  the  labor  and  taste 
bestowed  upon  them.  Some  of  the  more  prying 
peeped  into  the  kitchen  to  see  what  was  going  on 
there. 

"  I  am  glad  to  see,"  said  Captain  Hatton,  "  that 
though  this  is  a  monastic  house,  and  this  a  fast  day, 
we  shall  not  have  to  dine  orthodoxly,  on  bacal/iao  and 
sardinhas" 

"  Nor  be  bored  with  the  long  Latin  grace,"  said 
Major  Warren,  "  which  the  very  walls  of  the  refectory 
are  tired  of  hearing  and  not  understanding." 

"  Would  rendering  it  into  English  reconcile  you  to 
its  length?"  asked  Lady  Mabel. 


28  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

"  Not  in  the  least.  I  think  nothing  so  heterodox  as 
a  long  grace,  while  soup  and  fish  grow  cold." 

"I  am  told,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  ascending  to  the 
apartment  above,  "  that  this  was  the  abbot's  own 
room." 

"That  is  very  likely,"  said  Captain  Hatton,  "from 
its  neighborhood  to  the  kitchen." 

"  It  is  not  exactly  the  apartment,"  she  continued, 
"  which  I  would  design  for  a  lady's  withdrawing 
room.  But,  if  it  satisfied  the  holjr  father  before  it 
was  thus  improved,  it  is  too  good  for  a  heretic  like 
me.  I  sometimes  feel  myself  a  profane  intruder  here, 
and,  when  I  call  to  mind  whom  this  building  belongs 
to,  and  see  so  many  red-coated  gentry  stalking  at  ease 
through  dormitory,  refectory  and  cloisters,  I  think  of 
rooks  who  have  fled  the  rookery,  before  a  flock  of 
flamingoes  who  usurp  their  place." 

"The  pious  crows,"  said  Captain  Hatton,  "  would 
forgive  our  intrusion,  did  they  see  the  bird  of  paradise 
that  attracts  us  hither." 

"  Put  a  weight  on  your  fancy,  Captain  Hatton," 
said  Lady  Mabel.  "  Such  another  flight  and  it  may 
soar  away  altogether.  Pray  observe  the  admirable 
effect  of  those  hangings,  with  which  Captain  Cran- 
field  has  concealed  the  dark  and  narrow  passage  that 
leads  to  the  oratory." 

Major  Warren  was  provoked  at  the  general  admir 
ation  of  Cranfield's  taste  and  skill,  and  stung  by  the 
repeated  thanks  witli  which  Lady  Mabel  repaid  his 
labors,  so  he  endeavored  to  turn  them  into  ridicule. 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  29 

"  It  is  a  thousand  pities,  Cranfield,  that  these  happy 
designs  should  perish  with  their  temporary  use.  Let 
me  beg  you  to  send  a  sketch  of  them  to  Colonel  Stur 
geon,  the  head  of  your  department.  They  should  be 
preserved  among  the  draughts  and  plans  of  the  engi 
neer  corps." 

Cranfield  was  about  to  make  angry  answer,  but 
Lady  Mabel  anticipated  him  by  saying:  "doubtless, 
whenever  Colonel  Sturgeon  has  occasion  to  turn  monk 
ish  cloisters  into  ladies'  bowers,  it  will  save  him  a 
world  of  trouble  to  avail  himself  of  these  designs. 

At  this  moment  dinner  was  announced.  Colonel 
Bradshawe,  resolving  that  his  juniors  should  not  have 
Lady  Mabel  all  to  themselves,  availed  himself  of  his 
right  of  precedence,  to  hand  her  into  the  room,  and 
seated  himself  at  her  right  hand. 

Full  thirty  guests  occupied  the  space  between  her 
fathers  portly,  but  martial  h'gure,  and  her  seat  at  the 
head  of  the  table ;  and  though,  Minerva-like  in  air 
and  form,  she  presided  there  with  exquisite  grace,  she 
shrunk  from  this  long  array,  and  sought  a  kind  of 
privacy  in  devoting  her  attention,  somewhat  exclu 
sively,  to  the  senior  colonel  of  the  brigade.  Knowing 
how  important  a  matter  dining  wras  in  his  estimation, 
she  soon  made  a  conquest  of  him,  by  her  judicious 
care  in  supplying  his  wants,  tickling  his  palate,  and 
coinciding  in  his  tastes.  She  even,  for  his  benefit, 
called  into  requisition  the  unwilling  service  of  old 
Moodie,  who  had  habitually  taken  his  post  behind 
her,  like  a  sentinel,  not  troubling  himself  about  the 


30  THE    ACTKESS   IN    HIGH   LIFE. 

wants  of  the  guests.  The  colonel  might  have  choked 
with  thirst  before  he  spontaneously  handed  him  a 
decanter. 

Colonel  Bradshawe  having  made  himself  comfort 
able,  next  sought  to  make  himself  agreeable.  "  What 
a  delightful  contrast  between  my  situation  to-day,  and 
this  day  year,  Lady  Mabel." 

"  Where  were  you  then  ?" 

"  About  this  hour  we  were  fording  the  Aguada,  in 
a  snow  storm,  to  invest  Ciudad  Rodrigo." 

"  That  was  somewhat  different  from  our  present  oc 
cupation." 

u  We  soon  finished  that  little  job,  however,  before 
we  had  suffered  many  privations  there.  But  it  proved 
to  be  but  the  opening  of  a  campaign,  which  I  began, 
after  a  time,  to  think  would  never  come  to  an  end." 

"And,  unhappily,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  uit  did  not 
end  quite  so  well  as  it  promised  to  do." 

"  Fortune  is  a  fickle  mistress,  and  fond  of  showing 
her  character  in  war,"  said  the  colonel.  "  Sometimes 
she  favors  one  party  with  a  run  of  luck,  then  shifts 
suddenly  over  to  the  other  side.  So  with  individuals, 
only  there  she  is  most  apt  to  work  at  cross  purposes. 
One  pretty  fellow  deserves  to  live  forever,  and  gets 
knocked  on  the  head  in  the  first  skirmish  ;  another 
deserves  to  rise,  and  all  his  good  service  is  overlooked 
or  forgotten  ;  another  gets  praise  and  promotion  for 
what  he  never  did,  or  otiffht  never  to  have  done. 

O 

Some  men  have  such  luck  !  There  is  L'Isle  now,  who, 
after  being  pushed  on  as  fast  as  money  and  family  in- 


THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE.  31 

tereat  could  shove  him  ;  what  next  happens  to  him? 
Why  just  for  blundering  into  a  Spanish  village,  and 
being  nearly  taken  with  his  whole  command,  he  is 
made  a  lieutenant-colonel  on  the  spot." 

"  That  is  a  curious  result  of  such  a  blunder." 

"  Curious,  but  true.  This  is  capital  port,"  inter 
jected  the  colonel,  emptying  his  glass.  "We  drank 
no  such  stuff  as  this  during  the  last  campaign.  I 
would  not  disgust  you  with  a  detail  of  our  privations  ; 
but  you  must  know,  Lady  Mabel,  that  during  the 
whole  march  from  Madrid  to  Burgos,  and  thence,  in 
retreat,  to  Ciudad  Kodrigo,  I  never  tasted  a  bottle  of 
wine  that  deserved  the  name,  except  one  of  Peralta, 
of  which  I  feel  bound  to  make  honorable  mention.  I 
met  with  it  by  great  good  luck  at  the  posada  at 
Euitrago ;  but  when  I  called  for  another,  it  was  so 
excellent  that  the  landlord  had  drank  all  himself. 
The  stuff  we  had  to  drink  was  made  by  pouring  water 
on  the  skins  of  grapes  already  pressed.  After  they 
had  been  well  macerated  in  it,  it  was  allowed  to  fer 
ment  and  grow  sour,  then  sold  to  us  at  the  price  of 
good  liquor." 

"  That  accounts,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  for  the  provi 
dent  care  you  lately  showed,  in  laying  in  a  stock  of 
better  liquor  for  your  winter's  use.  Is  it  true  that 
you  sent  a  special  agent  to  Xeres  de  la  Frontera,  to 
select  the  best  sherry  for  the  regimental  mess  ?" 

"  Not  exactly  a  special  agent,"  said  the  colonel,  dis 
claiming  it  with  a  gentle  wave  of  the  hand;  "but, 
finding  a  trusty  person,  and  a  capital  judge,  going 


32  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

thither,  we  did  charge  him  with  a  little  commission 
that  way." 

"  I  was  sorry  to  hear  of  yonr  disappointment,"  added 
she,  in  a  commiserating  tone.  "I  am  told  that  he 
found  that  the  firm  of  Soult,  Victor  &  Co.,  had  al 
ready  taken  up  all  the  oldest  and  best  wine  on  credit, 
that  is,  without  paying  for  it ;  and  you  had  to  put  up 
with  new  and  inferior  brands,  or  go  without  any." 

"  It  is  but  too  true,"  said  the  colonel,  with  a  sigh. 
4 '  Those  rascally  Frenchmen  had  drained  the  country 
of  everything  worth  drinking ;  our  agent,  very  wisely, 
under  the  circumstances,  made  no  purchase  there,  and 
I  am  glad  of  it;  for  I  have  since  learned,  that  the 
Amontillado,  which  had  been  recommended  to  us  as 
the  dryest  of  sherry  wines,  is  made  from  a  variety  of 
grapes  plucked  before  they  are  ripe." 

;'  How  lucky,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  in  a  congratula 
tory  tone,  "  that  you  have  since  found  out  that  this 
wine  is  made  of  sour  grapes." 

A  faint  suspicion  that  she  was  laughing  at  him  in 
duced  him  to  change  the  topic.  "  You  were  never 
abroad  before,  I  believe.  This  part  of  the  country 
has  some  drawbacks ;  but  I  think  you  will  find  it, 
during  the  winter,  a  very  pleasant  part  of  the  world." 

"  We  will  all  endeavor  to  make  it  so  to  you,  Lady 
Mabel,"  said  Major  Warren,  who,  impatient  of  his 
superior's  monopoly,  here  tried  to  edge  in  a  word. 
But  the  colonel  cut  him  short  with  "That's  a  mere 
truism,  Warren,  a  self-evident  proposition.  Let  us 
have  nothing  more  of  that  sort.  One  of  the  peculiar!- 


THE   ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  33 

ties  of  this  climate,  Lady  Mabel,  is  that  it  has  a  double 
spring :  one  in  February  and  another  in  April.  Then 
we  will  see  you  take  your  appropriate  place  in  the 
picture,  representing  the  heyday  of  youth  in  the  midst 
of  spring,  and  beauty,  surrounded  by  flowers." 

She  bowed  low,  in  suppressing  a  laugh  at  this 
elaborate  compliment,  and  said,  "  Will  spring  be  so 
soon  upon  us  ?" 

"  In  a  fortnight  you  may  gather  the  same  flowers 
which  at  home  you  must  wait  for  till  May." 

"  Not  the  same  flowers,"  said  she,  quickly.  "  Por 
tugal  has  a  Flora  peculiar  to  itself,  embracing  very 
few  of  our  native  British  plants.  I  am  on  my  strong 
ground  on  this  topic,  being  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Graham, 
who  relieves  his  graver  studies  by  striving  to  rival 
King  Solomon  in  the  knowledge  of  plants,  '  from  the 
cedar  of  Lebanon  to  the  hyssop  that  grows  on  the 
wall.'  I  am  pledged  to  carry  home  a  vast  hortus 
siccus  for  him." 

"  Oh !  a  scientific  young  lady — perhaps  a  little  of 
a  blue-stocking,  too,"  said  the  colonel  to  himself.  "  I 
must  hash  up  a  dish  to  suit  her  peculiar  taste.  Though 
no  botanist,"  continued  he  aloud,  "  there  is  one  plant 
that  has  strongly  attracted  my  attention,  and  I  recom 
mend  it  to  yours;  though  your  hortus  siccus  will 
hardly  contain  a  fair  specimen  of  it." 

"  What  is  that  ?"  said  she,  on  the  qui  vive  to  hear 
of  some  rare  plant. 

"It  is  the  cork-oak,"  said  the  colonel,  solemnly. 
"Its  rough  exterior  has  led  tourists  and  artists,  and 


34  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

even  naturalists,  to  treat  it  with  neglect,  while  it  is 
daily  contributing  to  the  comfort,  delight,  and  civili 
zation  of  the  world." 

"It  may,  perhaps,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  hesitating, 
"  be  said  to  do  all  that  you  attribute  to  it." 

"  Does  it  not  strike  you  as  passing  strange,  Lady 
Mabel,  (apropos  to  our  subject,  pray  take  a  glass  of 
wine  with  me,)  that  the  Romans,  who  were,  doubt 
less,  a  great  and  a  wise  people,  should  have  been 
masters  of  Spain  and  Gaul,  and  of  their  forests  of 
cork  trees  for  centuries — that  these  Romans,"  con 
tinued  he,  growing  eloquent  on  the  subject,  "  who 
had  the  tree  in  their  own  country,  though  not,  per 
haps,  in  the  full  perfection  of  its  cortical  development, 
and  did  apply  its  bark  to  a  number  of  useful  purposes, 
including,  occasionally,  that  of  stoppers  for  vessels, 
should  yet  never  have  attained  to  the  systematic  use 
of  it  in  corking  their  bottles  !" 

"  Strange,  indeed,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  It  was 
shutting  their  eyes  against  the  light  of  nature ;  for, 
we  may  say,  that  the  obvious  final  end  of  the  cork 
tree  is  to  provide  corks  for  bottles." 

"  A  great  truth  well  expressed,"  said  the  colonel. 
"  Such  an  oversight  has  hardly  a  parallel ;  unless  it 
be  in  their  invention  of  printing  and  never  using  it. 
For  we  see,  in  the  baker's  name,  stamped  on  the 
loaves  found  in  Pompeii,  and  words  impressed  on 
their  pottery  and  other  articles,  what  amounts  to 
stereotype  printing ;  yet  they  never  went  on  to  sepa 
rate  the  individual  letters,  and  so  become  compositors 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  35 

and  printers  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  art.  But  they 
could  certainly  get  on  better  without  printing  than 
without  corks." 

"  Undoubtedly.  For  the  world  may — indeed,  has— 
become  too  full  of  books  ;  while  there  is  little  fear  of 
its  becoming  too  full  of  bottles ;  they  get  emptied  and 
broken  so  fast." 

"  I  wonder  whether  Horace,"  continued  Colonel 
Bradshawe,  with  a  thoughtful  air,  "  when  he  opened 
a  jar  of  Falernian,  was  obliged  to  finish  it  at  a  sitting, 
to  prevent  its  growing  sour?  Wine  out  of  a  jar! 
Think  of  that.  With  a  wooden  or  earthen  stopper, 
made  tight  with  pitch.  Think  of  having  your  wine 
vinho-flavored  with  pitch  !  like  the  vinho  verde  of 
these  Portuguese  peasants,  out  of  a  pitchy  goat-skin 
sack." 

Lady  Mabel  looked  nauseated  at  the  idea,  and  the 
colonel  swallowed  a  glass  of  Madeira,  to  wash  away 
the  pitchy  flavor.  "  Yes,"  said  he,  shaking  his  head 
gravely,  "  they  must  have  often  felt  sadly  the  want  of 
a  cork.  How  would  it  be  possible  to  confine  cham 
pagne  (I  am  sorry  this  cursed  war  prevents  our  get 
ting  any,)  until  it  is  set  free  with  all  its  life  and  per 
fection  of  flavor,  just  at  the  moment  of  enjoyment ! 
They  had  glass,  too,  and  used  glass,  these  Romans,  yet 
persevered  in  keeping  their  wine  in  those  abominable 
jars.  It  proves  how  little  progress  they  had  made  in 
the  beautiful  art  of  glass-blowing ;  and,  of  course,  (here 
the  colonel  took  up  a  decanter  of  old  Madeira  and  re 
plenished  his  glass,  after  eyeing  approvingly  the  am- 


36  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

ber-colored  liquor,)  they  were  ignorant  that  wines  that 
attain  perfection  by  keeping,  ripen  most  speedy  in 
light-colored  bottles." 

"  Indeed  I"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  I  did  not  know  that. 
But  I  learn  something  new  from  you  every  moment." 

"And  that,"  said  he,  nodding  approvingly  at  her, 
"is  someihing  worth  knowing.  I  doubt,  after  all, 
whether  these  Romans,  with  the  world  at  their  beck, 
really  knew  much  of  the  elegant  and  refined  pleasures 
of  life.  Setting  aside  their  gladiatorial  shows,  and  the 
custom  of  chaining  the  porter  by  the  leg  to  the  door 
post,  that  he  might  not  be  out  of  the  way  when  friend 
or  client  called  on  his  master,  and  similar  rude  habits, 
there  is  enough  to  convict  them  as  a  gross  people. 
They  put  honey  in  their  wine,  too  !  What  a  proof  of 
childish,  or  rather,  savage  taste!  Lucullus'  monstrous 
suppers,  and  Apicius'  elaborate  feasts,  are  better  to 
read  about  than  to  partake  of.  Give  me,  rather,  a 
quiet  little  dinner  of  a  few  well-chosen  dishes  and 
wines,  and  three  or  four  knowing  friends,  not  given  to 
long  stories,  but  spicy  in  talk,  and  I  will  enjoy  myself 
better  than  '  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all.' ?; 

"But,  Colonel  Bradshawe,  how  did  you  become  so 
familiar  with  Roman  manners  ?  Many  of  us  know 
something  of  their  public  life,  their  wars,  conquests, 
seditions  and  laws;  but  you  seem  to  have  put  aside 
the  curtain,  and  peered  into  the  house,  first  floor,  gar 
ret  and  cellar." 

"  You  overrate  my  learning,  Lady  Mabel ;  my  tastes 
naturally  lead  me  to  inform  myself  on  some  points 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  37 

that  may  seem  to  lie  out  of  the  common  road.  Some 
people  take  the  liberty  of  calling  me  an  epicure.  I 
admit  it  so  far  as  this  :  I  hold  it  to  be  our  duty  to  en 
joy  ourselves  wisely  and  well.  Much  as  I  esteem  a 
knowing  l)on  vivant,  I  despise  an  ignorant  glutton,  or 
undiscriminating  sot.  To  know  how  to  make  the  most 
of  the  good  things  given  us,  is,  at  once,  a  duty  and  a 
pleasure.  This  conviction  has  led  me  to  heighten  what 
are  called  our  epicurean  enjoyments,  by  investigating 
the  history  of  cookery,  the  literature  of  the  vineyard, 
and  other  cognate  branches  of  learning." 

"  You  have  devised  a  happy  union  of  intellectual 
and  sensual  pleasure,  well  calculated  to  heighten 
both." 

"  Why  were  these  good  things  given  us,"  said  the 
colonel,  gracefully  waving  his  hand  over  the  table, 
"  but  that  we  should  ascertain  their  uses,  and  apply 
them  accordingly  ?" 

"  I  begin  to  understand  your  philosophy,  in  letting 
none  of  the  good  things  of  life  run  to  waste,  but  rather 
receiving  them  all  in  the  spirit  of  thankfulness." 

"  In  those  few  words  you  express  the  essence  of  my 
philosophy." 

"There  may  be,"  continued  Lady  Mabel,  "  as  much 
piety,  and  certainly  more  wisdom,  in  frankly  enjoying 
the  good  things  given  us,  than  in  despising  the  world 
which  God  made,  and  rejecting  the  blessings  it  teems 
with,  like  these  self-tormenting  ascetics,  the  monks 
and  friars  around  us." 

"  Heaven  help  your  simplicity,  Lady  Mabel !    They 


38  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

only  pretend  to  do  so,  the  hypocrites  !     Rest  assured, 
every  one  of  these  fellows  is  on  the  sly." 

"  What !    No  exceptions  ?     Is  it  true  of  every  one — 

'  His  eyes  are  set  on  heaven,  his  heart  on  earth?'  " 

"  It  fits  them  to  a  man  !"  said  the  colonel.  "  Their 
vocation  is  securing  to  themselves  the  good  things  of 
this  world,  by  promising  to  others  the  blessings  of  the 
next :  and  as  for  the  friars,  true  to  their  motto,  Nihil 
habentes  et  omnia  possidentes,  they  profess  to  hold  no 
special  property,  merely  that  the  whole  country  might 
be  bound  to  maintain  them.  They  know  the  value  of 
the  good  things  of  this  life,  and  how  to  enjoy  them  in 
a  corner." 

"  These  odd-looking  monks  and  friars  attract  me 
much,"  said  Lady  Mabel :  "  perhaps  they  will  not 
bear  a  close  inspection ;  but,  with  all  my  prejudice 
against  them,  I  must  own,  that  many  seem  truly  de 
vout,  and  the  friars,  at  least,  very  zealous  in  their 
labors  among  the  people." 

"  Yet  the  people,  except  the  women,"  said  Brad- 
shawe,  "  are  losing  faitli  in  their  greasy  reverences." 

"  Women  are  everywhere  more  devout  than  men," 
she  answered  ;  "  and  I  do  indeed  observe  their  greasy 
reverences,  as  you  call  them,  conversing  oftener  with 
our  sex  than  yours." 

"  Observe  more  closely,  Lady  Mabel,  and  you  will 
see  that  they  are  most  zea-lous  for  the  conversion  of 
the  young  women,  the  tender  lambs  of  the  flock. 
They  care  little  for  a  tough,  smoke-dried,  old  woman's 


THE   ACTEESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  39 

soul."  This  was  said  with  a  knowing  wink,  and  caus 
ed  some  merriment  among  his  juniors  within  ear-shot. 
A  gradual  but  perceptible  change  was  coining  over 
the  colonel's  manner,  which  Lady  Mabel  did  not  like. 
In  fact,  Lord  Strathern  had  pushed  the  bottle  briskly, 
though  sometimes  slighting  it  himself,  as  did  many  of 
his  guests  ;  but  Bradshawe  made  it  a  point  of  con 
science  to  take  toll  every  time  it  passed  him.  He  had, 
moreover,  violated  one  of  his  own  maxims,  in  talking 
incessantly  while  imbibing  his  liquor ;  so  she  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  next  pause  in  his  conversation  to  leave 
the  table. 


40  THE  ACTRESS  IN  '  HIGH   LIFE. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

You  are  a  gentleman  of  excellent  breeding,  admirable  discourse,  of 
great  admittance;  authentic  in  your  place  and  person,  and  generally 
allowed  for  your  many  warlike,  courtlike,  and  learned  preparations. — 
Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 

So  time  ran  merrily  on  in  Elvas,  and  most  merrily 
at  headquarters ;  thanks  to  Lord  Strathern's  hospital 
ity,  and  to  the  elegance,  variety  and  life  Lady  Mabel 
gave  to  the  brilliant  circle  she  attracted  thither. 

Entering  her  father's  sitting-room  one  morning,  she 
found  him  in  conference  with  a  gentleman  whom  she 
had  never  seen  before.  They  were  so  much  engrossed 
in  conversation,  that  she  had  time  to  remark,  unob 
served,  that  he  was  young,  handsome,  and  an  officer 
of  rank,  but  thin  and  pallid,  as  if  just  released  from 
long  confinement  in  a  sick  room.  She  was  about  to 
withdraw,  when  the  stranger,  turning  to  take  a  paper 
from  the  table,  saw  her.  After  an  abstracted  look  of 
admiring  curiosity,  as  if  gazing  on  a  fine  picture,  un 
expectedly  placed  before  him,  he  recollected  himself, 
and  rose  from  his  chair. 

"This  must  be  Lady  Mabel  Stewart.  Pray,  my 
lord,  psesent  me  to  your  daughter." 

"What,  Ma  Belle,  are  you  here?     L'Isle,  let  me 


THE   ACTEESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  41 

make  you  known  to  my  daughter.  Like  yourself, 
she  occupies  a  distinguished  post  in  the  brigade, 
though  not  quite  so  well  defined  as  yours." 

Lady  Mabel  acknowledged  this  addition  to  her  ac 
quaintance  ;  then  said,  "  but  I  see  you  are  busy,  papa." 

"Not  at  all,"  said  he,  thrusting  some  papers  into 
his  portfolio,  "  sit  with  us  here ;"  and  he  drew  a  chair 
for  her.  "  L'Isle  has  been  so  long  in  his  sick  room, 
that  a  little  of  our  pleasant  company  will  do  him 
good.  You  must  have  suffered  much  from  solitude, 
L'Isle,  as  well  as  from  your  wounds." 

"  Surgeons  and  servants  were  my  sole  companions. 
Their  rude  hands,  too,  convinced  me  that  our  sex 
were  never  meant  for  nurses.  A  sister  of  mercy 
-would  have  been  an  angel  of  light ;  and  if  young  and 
good-looking,  she  might  have  made  a  convert  of  me 
to  her  church." 

Lady  Mabel  could  perceive  that  her  father  treated 
his  companion  with  unusual  consideration,  and  L'Isle 
was  induced  to  prolong  his  visit  for  an  hour  and  more. 
He  was  certainly  well-bred  and  well-informed,  and 
seemed  disposed  to  make  himself  agreeable ;  yet 
there  \vas  something  in  his  manner  that  puzzled  and 
annoyed  her.  It  was  not  the  little  reserve  which  he 
exhibited  toward  her  father,  yet  more  than  to  herself. 
It  was  not  that  he  was  out  of  spirits;  for  he  was  quite 
animated  at  times.  It  seemed  to  be  a  feeling  of— 
Lady  Mabel's  self-satisfaction  did  not  permit  her  im 
mediately  to  perceive  what  this  feeling  was. 

"  So,"  said  she  to  herself,  when  L'Isle  had  taken  his 


42  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

leave,  her  father  accompanying  him  out  of  the  room, 
"  So  this  is  the  veritable  Lieutenant-Colonel  L'Isle ! 
After  hearing  of  him  daily  for  three  weeks,  I  have 
now  seen  him  in  real  life,  or  rather,  half  alive;  for 
the  cadaverous  gentleman  seems  to  have  had  at  least 
half  his  life  let  out  of  him  in  that  last  affair.  This  is 
the  glass  in  which  the  young  lieutenants  and  ensigns 
of  the  brigade  dress  themselves.  As  Colonel  Brad- 
shawe  says,  there  is  no  need  to  distribute  copies  of 
the  articles  of  war  among  them.  They  may  all  be 
condensed  into  one  injunction:  'Be  just  like  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  L'Isle,  and  you  will  rise  like  him  ;  and 
deserve  to  rise — if  you  have  as  strong  family  interest 
to  back  you.'  But  he  seems  to  have  suffered  much 
from  his  wounds,  poor  fellow,  and  in  spite  of  family 
interest,  to  have  been  very  near  leaving  his  regiment 
vacant  for  another  aspirant." 

"  By-the-bye,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  as  a  new  light 
flashed  upon  her,  "  he  seemed  to  pity  me  all  the  time 
he  was  talking  to  me.  That  was  it !  A  condescend 
ing  commiseration  in  every  look,  and  in  every  word 
he  uttered.  I  am  very  much  indebted  to  him  for  his 
sympathy.  "  Here  she  assumed  a  haughty  air.  "But 
we  certainly  do  not  know  ourselves ;  for  I  cannot,  for 
the  life  of  me,  discover  \vhat  he  sees  so  pitiable  about 
me.  He  is,  doubtless,  a  very  over-weening  fellow — I 
do  not  like  him  at  all !"  And,  with  a  haughty  wave 
of  the  hand,  she  dismissed  an  imaginary  personage 
from  her  presence,  and  moved  off  with  dignity  to  her 
own  room.  Now,  be  it  remembered,  that  Lady  Ma- 


THE   ACTRESS   IN    HIGH    LIFE.  48 

bel,  walking  in  "maiden  meditation,  fancy  free," 
among  the  officers  of  the  brigade,  had  never,  until 
this  moment,  thought  it  worth  while  to  ask  herself,  as 
to  any  6f  them,  whether  she  liked  him  or  not. 

While  she  was  thus  meditating  and  soliloquizing, 
L'Isle  had  mounted  his  horse,  and  was  riding  slowly 
back  to  his  quarters,  meditating  and  soliloquizing,  too. 

"  What  on  earth  was  Lord  Strathern  dreaming  of, 
when  he  brought  his  daughter  out  here — and  such  a 
daughter — to  preside  over  his  house  and  his  table? 
She  might  as  well  take  her  seat  at  the  head  of  a  regi 
mental  mess-table.  We  know  his  habits  of  life.  He 
cannot  dine  comfortably  without  half  a  dozen  fast 
fellows  about  him.  To  make  it  worse,  has  a  new  set 
every  day.  And  with  his  notions  of  hospitality,  all 
are  made  free  of  the  house.  Of  course,  they  become 
her  companions,  and  to  such  a  degree  of  freedom, 
that  she  can  only  get  out  of  their  way  by  shutting 
herself  up  in  her  chamber.  She  can  scarcely  have  a 
female  companion  an  hour  in  the  week ;  for  the  few 
of  our  ladies  here  have  no  leisure  to  be  trotting  out 
of  Elvas,  down  to  headquarters,  to  play  chaperon  to 
a  young  girl  who  ought  to  be  in  England." 

"  Here  is  a  man,"  continued  L'Isle  to  himself,  in  an 
indignant  tone,  and  so  loud  that  his  servant  spurred 
up  from  behind  him  to  see  if  he  was  wanted.  "  Here 
is  a  man  who  has  been  near  forty  years  in  the  service, 
and  has  not  yet  found  out  wrhat  kind  of  women  are 
made  out  of  these  garrison  girls.  Bold,  flippant  crea 
tures,  light  infantry  in  petticoats,  destitute  of  the  del- 


44:  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

icacy  and  modesty,  without  which  a  woman  may  be 
honest  by  good  luck,  but  can  never  be  a  lady  deserv 
ing  the  name. 

"  She  seems  to  retain  yet  the  air  and  manner,  and, 
I  trust,  the  modesty  and  purity  of  mind  that  should 
grace  such  beauty.  But  how  will  it  be  six  months 
hence?  Her  situation  is  absolutely  improper.  Lord 
Strath ern  has  shown  himself  no  more  n't  to  bring  up 
such  a  daughter,  or  even  to  take  charge  of  her,  after 
some  fitter  person  has  brought  her  up,  than  he  is  to 
say  mass."  For  here  L'Isle's  eye  fell  on  a  fat  priest, 
toiling  up  the  hill  beside  him.  "  Though  he  may  be 
as  fit  for  that  as  some  of  these  gentry.  ISTo  more  fit," 
continued  he,  struggling  after  another  simile,  "  than 
for  a  professor  of  Greek  literature."  For  during  his 
late  solitude  his  thoughts  had  often  wandered  back  to 
his  old  haunts,  before  he  had  broken  off  a  promising 
career  at  Oxford,  to  join  the  first  British  expedition 
that  had  come  out  to  Portugal  nearly  five  years  ago. 

"I  am  sorry  for  her,  upon  my  soul  I  am.  She 
would  make  so  fine  a  woman  in  proper  hands !  I 
wonder  if  some  remedy  cannot  be  found  against  the 
effects  of  her  father's  folly — his  forgetfulness  of  what 
is  due  to  maiden  delicacy  and  the  privacies  of  domes 
tic  life !" 

L'Isle  was  still  meditating  on  this  interesting  sub 
ject  when  he  dismounted  at  his  own  quarters,  one  of 
the  best  houses  on  the  praqa^  or  public  square  of  El- 
vas. 

Lady  Mabel  was  right  in  supposing  that  family  in- 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  45 

terest  had  something  to  do  with  putting  L'Isle  at  the 
head  of  a  regiment  when  just  twenty-four.  Such  in 
stances  have  been  common  enough  in  the  British  ser 
vice — and  not  rare  in.  others,  in  all  ages  of  the  world. 
Family  interest,  or  something  very  like  it,  put  Alex 
ander,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  at  the  head  of  an  army 
with  which  he  went  on  conquering  to  the  end  of  his 
short  life.  The  same  influence  put  Hannibal,  at  twenty- 
seven,  at  the  head  of  an  army  with  which  he  continued 
for  seventeen  years  to  shake  the  foundations  of  Rome. 
Family  interest  thrust  forward  such  men  as  Edward 
the  Black  Prince,  the  fifth  Harry  of  England,  and  the 
fourth  Henri  of  France.  This,  too,  thrust  forward  the 
great  Conde  to  offer  to  France  the  first  fruits  of  his 
heroism,  when  victor  at  Rocroi,  at  twenty-two.  So, 
too,  with  Gustavus  Adolphus,  Turenne,  Eugene  of 
Savoy,  and  Frederick  the  Great.  Family  interest,  not 
of  the  most  creditable  kind,  turned  the  courtier  Church 
ill  into  the  conquering  Marlborough  ;  and  his  nephew, 
the  gallant  young  Berwick,  found  that  being,  some 
what  irregularly,  the  son  of  an  English  king,  helped 
him  much  in  obtaining  the  command  of  the  armies  of 
France.  Just  at  this  time  the  son  of  an  earl,  and  the 
brother  of  a  governor-general  of  India,  pushed  on  by 
family  interest,  was  proving  himself  not  unfit  to  direct 
the  efforts  of  the  British  arms.  It  is  curious  to  see  in 
these,  and  many  an  instance  more  in  military  history, 
how  aptly  family  interest  has  come  into  play.  It  is 
likely  that  these  men  were  not  the  mere  creatures  of 
accident,  but  had  each  merits  of  his  own,  and  in  spite 


46  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

of  whispered  insinuations,  so  had  Lieutenant-Colonel 
L'Isle,  though  nephew  and  heir  to  an  earl.  Having 
chosen  his  profession,  he  followed  it  laboriously  and 
gallantly,  as  if  he  had  not  been  heir  to  an  acre — but 
bore  his  fortunes  on  the  point  of  his  sword. 

He  had  just  reached  Elvas,  after  spending  six  te 
dious  weeks  at  Ciudad  Rodrigo,  under  the  surgeon's 
hands.  He  now  found  his  own  hands  full  of  regimen 
tal  business — accumulated  against  his  arrival — and 
being  a  prompt  man,  set  himself  to  work,  though  yet 
little  fit  for  it. 

Though  he  had  seen  Lady  Mabel  but  once,  he  was 
not  suffered  to  forget  her.  Every  young  officer  he 
met,  and  many  of  the  older,  had  something  to  say  of 
her,  some  comment  to  make  on  the  attractions  at  head 
quarters,  some  details  to  give  of  the  witty  things  said, 
and  the  graceful  things  done  by  Lady  Mabel ;  for  she 
said  many  happy  things,  and  did  many  things  well, 
and  was,  at  all  events,  sure  of  admiration.  All  this 
only  the  more  convinced  L'Isle  that  her  position  was 
very  inappropriate  to  one  so  beautiful  and  young. 

After  some  days  he  began  to  think  himself  guilty 
of  gross  neglect  in  not  having  called  on  the  lady  at 
headquarters.  Disliking,  however,  to  make  one  of  an 
admiring  crowd,  he  showed  his  strategy  in  choosing 
well  his  time,  and  called  on  Lady  Mabel  on  the  day 
and  at  the  hour  when  an  inspection  of  the  troops  hav 
ing  been  ordered,  every  officer  was  at  his  post  except 
himself — yet  too  weak  to  be  expected  to  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  his  regiment. 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  47 

On  calling,  he  was  immediately  admitted.  Lady 
Mabel  apparently  had  been  reading  in  the  room  in 
which  she  received  him.  He  now  saw  her  for  the  first 
time  alone,  and  she  was  by  no  means  aware  what  a 
critical  examination  she  was  undergoing.  Her  man 
ner  was  different  from  what  he  had  expected.  With 
quiet  politeness  she  received  his  visit  as  one  of  mere 
etiquette  to  the  lady  at  headquarters.  That  repose  of 
manner  might  indicate  a  cold  disposition,  or  might 
cover  strength  of  character  and  depth  of  feeling,  not 
given  to  perpetual  demonstrations,  but  showing  vigor 
and  animation,  with  telling  effect,  at  the  right  time. 
There  was  no  indication  of  that  craving  for  company, 
of  the  ennui  at  being  thrown  upon  her  own  resources 
for  a  whole  morning,  so  common  with  young  women 
brought  up  in  a  crowd,  and  habitually  surrounded  by 
admirers.  "  As  yet,"  thought  L'Isle,  "  she  has  escap 
ed  that."  He  even  thought  he  could  perceive  that 
he  had  interrupted  her  in  some  occupation,  which 
would  be  resumed  the  moment  he  left  her ;  that  his 
visit  was  a  parenthesis  awkwardly  thrust  in  between, 
and  breaking  the  connection  of  her  morning  hours. 

Lady  Mabel  expressed  some  surprise  at  his  being  at 
leisure  just  at  this  time,  but  added  :  "I  suppose  you 
are  yet  too  weak  to  burden  yourself  with  such  mere 
formalities  as  parades  and  inspections." 

L'Isle  was  a  martinet,  and  this  a  military  heresy. 
"  Keeping  the  troops  up  to  the  mark,  fit  for  instant 
service,  is  not  a  matter  of  form ;  and  that  is  the  end 
of  parades  and  inspections.  But,"  added  he,  smiling, 


48  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"I  am  not  surprised  at  your  mistake;  for  I  find,  on 
coming  to  Elvas,  that  many  of  my  brother  officers 
have  embraced  the  same  opinion.  They  have  got 
tired  of  these  formalities,  and  dispense  with  them  as 
often  as  they  can.  But  I  must  not  find  fault  with 
them,  while  indulging  myself  as  an  invalid  longer 
than  is  absolutely  necessary.  Confinement  and  idle 
ness  have  made  me  a  little  lazy." 

An  air  of  languor,  and  the  marks  of  recent  suffer 
ing,  fully  excused  what  he  called  his  laziness.  They 
did  something  more  for  him  by  exciting  Lady  Mabel's 
sympathy,  putting  her  at  ease,  and  inducing  her  to 
exert  herself  to  entertain  him  ;  and  during  their  con 
versation  L'Isle  was  quietly  on  the  watch  for  each  in 
dication  of  character  his  fascinating  companion  might 
betray. 

Presently  she  rested  her  elbow  on  a  thick  quarto  on 
the  table  beside  her.  L'Isle  then  observed  that  it  was 
a  Portuguese  and  English  dictionary,  and  saw  a  vol 
ume  of  Count  Ericeira's  works  beside  it. 

"  I  see,  Lady  Mabel,  that  you  do  not  mean  to  re 
main  ignorant  of  the  language  of  the  people  you  have 
come  among." 

"  I  wish  not  to  remain  ignorant.  But  between  my 
own  dullness  and  the  want  of  a  master,  I  make  won 
derfully  slow  progress.  It  is  very  provoking,  partic 
ularly  to  a  woman,  to  be  in  the  midst  of  a  people 
whom  she  can  neither  talk  to  nor  understand." 

"  It  is  certainly  better,"  said  L'Isle,  "  to  learn  to 
fight  before  we  go  into  battle,  and  to  speak  a 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  49 

people's  language  before  we  throw  ourselves  among 
them." 

"  Very  true.  But  I  have  been  thrown  very  unex 
pectedly  among  these  Portuguese.  I  came  out  mere 
ly  to  visit  my  father,  you  know.  That  is,  he  sent  for 
me,  not  having  seen  me  for  years.  That  must  ac 
count,"  said  she,  laughing,  "  for  my  joining  the  brig 
ade.  I  am  not  even  a  volunteer  among  you ;  nor 
shall  I  subject  myself  to  the  articles  of  war." 

"  You  are  a  traveler,  then,  and  not  a  soldier,"  said 
L'Isle. 

"I  am  a  daughter,"  she  answered,  "and  in  that 
character  I  come.  But,  beside  the  pleasure  of  being 
with  my  father,  an  opportunity  to  see  outlandish 
places  and  people  was  no  small  inducement.  I  have 
my  full  share  of  curiosity  and  love  of  adventure  ;  I 
want,  too,  to  know  the  people  I  am  among  ;  and  that 
is  impossible,  without  speaking  their  language." 

"  But  I  think  you  are  misdirecting  your  eiforts,  and 
wasting  your  time,"  said  L'Isle.  "The  Spanish  will 
be  of  more  permanent  value,  and  almost  equally  use 
ful  here  on  the  frontier.  The  one  is  a  language  wide 
ly  spread  and  a  noble  one.  The  other,  though  exceed 
ingly  well  adapted  to.  conversation,  has  but  a  narrow 
range,  and  may  one  day  be  merged  in  the  superior 
tongue.  The  literature  of  the  Spanish,  too,  is  the 
richer,  though  both  are  poor  enough." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  that ;  for  I  have  al 
ready  made  some  little  progress  in  Spanish.  I  have 
read  a  few  books,  and  moulded  my  tongue  to  the 


50  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

utterance  of  a  long  list  of  conversational  phrases.  I 
would  now  gladly  exchange  my  French  for  Spanish 
or  Portuguese.  What  a  pity  it  is,  that  the  languages 
of  different  countries  are  not,  like  their  coins,  ex 
changeable  one  for  another." 

"Unfortunately,"  said  L'Isle,  laughing,  "that  ex 
change  is  a  slow  process ;  and  exact  equivalents  are 
seldom  found." 

"  It  is  too  provoking,"  continued  Lady  Mabel, 
"  after  having  been  at  so  much  pains  to  learn  French, 
not  to  be  at  liberty  to  go  to  France,  to  show  the  na 
tives  how  well  I  can  speak  their  tongue.  True,  I  have 
access  to  their  books,  which  are,  perhaps,  better  than 
themselves." 

"  That  is  not  saying  much  for  their  books,"  said 
L'Isle  contemptuously.  Their  literature  is  much  over 
valued.  Its  chief  merits  are  variety  and  bulk.' 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?  That  is  not  the  opinion  I  have 
heard  expressed." 

"  Yery  true.  The  world  is  full  of  false  opinions 
and  bad  taste.  But  a  literature,  whose  great  epic 
poem  is  the  Henriade,  may  be  abundant  but  cannot 
be  rich.  A  language,  in  which  you  cannot  make 
verse  without  the  jingle  of  rhyme,  may  be  clear  and 
copious,  but  is  wanting  in  melody  and  force.  Take 
away  from  French  literature  Gil  Bias  and  the  me- 
moires,  and  were  all  the  rest  lost,  its  place  might  be 
easily  filled  with  something  better.  With  these  ex 
ceptions,  there  is  little  worth  doing  into  English  or 
any  other  tongue.  And  after  all,  Gil  Bias  is  only  a 


THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE.  51 

renegade  Spaniard  in  a  French  uniform ;  and,  un 
doubtedly,  it  is  not  genius,  but  merely  their  intense 
vanity  and  egotism,  that  enables  them  to  excel  in 
writing  their  own  memoirs.  Besides,  unlike  most 
other  people,  their  books  are  as  immoral  as  them 
selves." 

"  Well,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  looking  at  him  in  some 
surprise,  yet  half  convinced  of  the  truth  of  what  he 
had  been  saying.  "  It  must  certainly  be  a  great  com 
fort  to  you  to  entertain  so  thorough  a  contempt  and 
dislike  for  the  people  you  have  to  tight  against." 

"  Perhaps  it  is,"  said  L'Isle,  laughing  at  her  obser 
vation  and  his  own  warmth.  "  Tt  may  not  be  in  the 
spirit  of  Christianity  or  of  chivalry,  but  it  is  exceed 
ingly  true  to  our  nature,  to  dislike  our  enemies,  and 
heartily,  too.  But  to  return  to  our  subject.  You 
wish  to  learn  Spanish,  and  I  can  provide  you  a  capa 
ble  and  zealous  teacher." 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you ;  where  is  he  to  be 
found  ?" 

"  I  will  bring  him  here,  any  day  and  hour  you  may 
appoint." 

"  Then  I  will  fix  an  early  hour,  and  take  a  lesson 
every  day." 

"  The  truth  is,"  said  L'Isle,  hesitating  and  some 
what  confused,  "it  is  very  difficult  to  find  a  Spaniard 
who  speaks  English  well  enough  to  teach  you  his  own 
tongue." 

"  But  you  said  just  now  that  would  find  me  such  a 
master." 


52  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  But  not  a  Spaniard.  I  hear,"  said  L'Isle,  putting 
a  bold  face  on  the  matter,  "  that  several  of  my  bro 
ther  officers  have  been  permitted  to  make  themselves 
useful  to  you  in  various  capacities.  For  instance,  on 
looking  round  this  room,  I  see  more  than  one  achieve 
ment  of  Captain  Craniield's,  and  hear  that  Major 
Lurnley's  skill  in  music  has  been  called  into  play. 
Now  I  am  behind  no  one  in  zeal  for  your  service." 

"  So  you,  yourself,  are  the  Spanish  master,  whom 
you,  yourself,  would  recommend  ?" 

"  I  assure  you  I  do  not  know  where  to  find  an 
other." 

"Your  offer  is  exceedingly  tempting,"  said  Lady 
Mabel,  bowing  ironically  low.  "  But  I  am  too  much 
in  debt  already  to  the  gentlemen  in  his  majesty's  ser 
vice.  To  turn  one  of  his  colonels  into  my  Spanish 
master  would  be  seriously  to  misemploy  his  precious 
time.  I  would  feel  that  I  was  robbing  my  country. 
Is  it  not  positive  treason  to  aid  and  abet  the  king's 
enemies?  Then  it  is  negative  treason,  to  divert  from 
his  service  any  of  the  king's  friends." 

"  But  you  forget  that  I  am  an  invalid,  not  yet  fit  for 
duty." 

"  You  are  getting  more  fit  for  it  every  day.  My 
invalid  tutor  would  become  a  sound  colonel  long  be 
fore  I  had  made  much  progress  under  his  tuition." 

"But  I  would  not  object  to  relaxing  from  my  mili 
tary  duties,  and  prolonging  my  invalid  condition  in 
your  service." 

"  Let  me  beg  that  you  do  no  such  thing,  but  hasten 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  53 

to  get  so  well  as  to  forget  your  wounds,  and  the  awk 
ward  occasion  on  which  you  received  them." 

"  Why,"  said  L'Isle,  in  some  surprise,  "  what  have 
you  heard  of  that  occasion  ?" 

"  Perhaps  you,  like  some  other  people,  do  not  care 
to  be  reminded  of  your  blunders,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
mischievously. 

"  Blunders  ?"  said  L'Isle,  "  I  do  not  see  how  a 
soldier  can  avoid  exposing  himself  occasionally  to  the 
risk  of  being  shot,  sabred,  or  bayoneted.  What  blun 
der  of  mine  have  you  heard  of?" 

"  Merely  that  on  the  approach  of  a  French  column, 
yon,  instead  of  rejoining  the  main  body,  in  great 
alarm  hid  yourself  and  your  men  in  a  little  Spanish 
village  too  mean  to  have  a  name.  The  French  found 
you  out,  and  kept  you  shut  up  there  in  great  trepida 
tion  for  five  or  six  hours,  while  they  were  cutting 
away  your  barricades,  beating  in  the  doors,  and  tear 
ing  off  the  roofs  of  the  houses.  Your  case  was  as 
desperate  as  that  of  a  rat  in  a  trap ;  and  when  your 
friends  came  to  your  relief,  they  had  to  knock  a  great 
many  of  the  French  in  the  head  before  they  could 
persuade  them  to  let  you  slip  out.  But,  by  some 
lucky  misunderstanding  at  headquarters,  you  were 
soon  after  made  a  lieut.  colonel." 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  L'Isle,  laughing,  "  that  this 
is,  to  me,  quite  a  new  version  of  that  little  affair? 
Did  you  hear  whether  we  did  the  French  any  damage, 
while  they  beset  us  so  closely  ?" 


54  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

"  Nothing  was  said  on  that  score.  So  I  suppose 
yon  did  them  little  harm." 

"It  is  lucky  for  me  that  your  informant  had  not  the 
reporting  of  this  affair  at  headquarters." 

"  It  is  said  that  you  had  that  more  adroitly  done  by 
your  own  friends." 

"  They  give  me  credit  at  least  for  good  diplomacy," 
said  L'Isle.  "  Or,  at  all  events,  it  is  a  good  thing  to 
have  a  friend  at  court — that  is,  at  the  elbow  of  the 
commander-in-chief.  And  it  seems  that  I  have  one 
there.  But  still  you  make  a  great  mistake  in  declin 
ing  my  services  as  a  teacher  of  the  Spanish  tongue. 
I  may  be  a  blundering  soldier,  but  have  made  myself 
thoroughly  master  of  the  languages  of  the  Peninsula, 
and  have  a  decided  aptitude  for  teaching.  Let  me 
begin  by  warning  you  against  a  blunder  we  English 
always  commit,  in  trying  to  speak  a  tongue  not  our 
own,  with  the  mouth  half  open,  and  the  hands  in  the 
pockets.  Now,  when  you  address  a  foreigner  in  his  own 
tongue,  speak  with  much  noise  and  vociferation,  open 
ing  your  mouth  wide  and  using  much  action.  The 
ideas  you  cannot  convey  in  words,  you  must  communi 
cate  by  gesticulation,  the  more  emphatic  the  better." 

"What!"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "Would  you  have 
me  go  scolding  and  gesticulating  at  every  foreign  fel 
low  I  meet  with,  and  become  notorious  throughout 
Elvas  as  the  British  virago  ?" 

"There  is  no  danger  of  that,"  said  L'Isle.  "They 
would  only  say  that  you  have  as  much  vivacity  as  a 
native,  and  soon  begin  to  understand  you." 


THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  55 

"  I  have  made  the  acquaintance  of  some  ladies  of 
Elvas.  As  yet  our  intercourse  has  been  limited  to  a 
few  formal  visits,  and  a  few  set  phrases  mingled  with 
pantomime.  But  some  of  them  are  disposed  to  be 
very  sociable,  and,  through  their  teaching,  I  hope  to 
be  able  soon  to  bear  my  part  in  the  most  sprightly  and 
sentimental  conversation.  You  shall  see  what  an  apt 
scholar  I  am  under  the  tuition  of  my  own  sex." 

"I  trust  you  will  be  on  your  guard  against  culti 
vating  too  great  an  intimacy  with  these  people,"  said 
L'Isle.  "  You  do  not  know  what  Portuguese  and 
Spanish  ladies  are." 

"What  are  they?" 

"  A  thorough  knowledge  of  them  would  only  satisfy 
you  that  they  are  gross  in  language,  particularly  the 
Spaniards,  indelicate  in  their  habits,  careless  of  pro 
priety,  lax  in  morals,  and,  with  all  their  grace,  vi 
vacity,  and  elegance,  very  unfit  companions  for 
you.  In  short,  the  purity  of  mind,  true  refinement  of 
manners,  and  scrupulous  propriety  of  conduct  we 
look  for  in  a  lady,  are  almost  unknown  among 
them." 

"  What  a  shocking  picture  you  paint  of  our  friends 
here.  Y.ou  must  know  them  exceedingly  well,"  added 
Lady  Mabel,  in  innocent  surprise,  "to  justify  your 
abusing  them  so  roundly." 

"By  report — only  by  report,"  said  L'Isle  hastily. 
"  But  I  have  had  many  opportunities  of  judging 
of  the  grossness  of  their  conversation  and  manners. 
The  Portuguese  ladies  are  not  gross  in  language,  like 


56  THE   ACTKESS  IN"  HIGH  LIFE. 

the  Spaniards ;  but  are  quite  on  a  par  with  them  in 
essentials,  or  rather  the  want  of  essentials." 

"They  are  not  at  all  indebted  to  your  report, 
which  has  used  them  very  roughly.  You,  perhaps, 
have  been  unfortunate  in  the  samples  you  have  met 
with ;  and,  at  least,  do  not  know  my  new  friends  here 
in  Elvas." 

"I  confess  that  I  do  not." 

"Yet  I  must  own  that  you  have  damped  my  ardor 
to  cultivate  an  intimacy  with  them.  Yet  such  is  the 
situation  of  the  two  or  three  of  our  own  ladies  here, 
that  these  allies  of  ours  afford  the  only  female  society 
at  my  command." 

"  In  that  respect  your  situation  here  must  seem  very 
strange  to  you." 

"  Strange,  indeed,  at  first — but  now  I  am  getting 
accustomed  to  it.  I  begin  to  feel  as  if  I  held  an  of 
ficial  position  in  the  brigade.  I  make  great  progress 
in  knowledge  of  military  affairs — am  quite  familiar, 
as  you  may  perceive,  with  the  details  of  the  last  cam 
paign,  and  begin  to  understand  both  the  technical 
language  and  the  slang  of  our  comrades ;  who  give 
me  plenty  of  their  company,  and  right  merry  com 
panions  they  are.  But,  perhaps,"  said  she,  looking  at 
him  doubtingly,  uyou  may  be  able  to  understand  me, 
and  excuse  my  \veakness,  when  I  confess  that  there 
is  still  so  much  of  the  woman  left  in  me  that  I  do 
often  long  to  slam  the  door  in  the  face  of  the  brigade, 
and  have  a  good  long  confidential  chat  with  some  of 
my  own  sex." 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  57 

"  The  want  of  that  must  be  a  sad  privation  to  you." 

"  My  only  resource  now  is  to  get  old  Hoodie 
and  Jennie  Aiken,  my  maid,  together,  and  have  a 
good  home  talk  with  them,  which,  for  the  time,  may 
blot  out  the  map  of  Portugal,  and  carry  113  back  to 
Scotland." 

"  After  that  avowal,"  said  L'Isle,  rising  from  his 
chair,  "  I  had  better  not  trespass  on  you  longer,  lest 
I  should  have  the  door  slammed  in  my  face  the  next 
time  I  visit  you."  And  he  bowed  and  put  an  end  to 
his  visit." 

As  he  rode  homeward,  he  again  brought  Lord 
Strathern  to  trial,  and  soon  found  a  verdict  against 
him,  of  utter  incapacity  to  take  charge  of  such  a 
daughter  as  heaven  had  blessed  him  with.  L'Isle  felt 
strongly  tempted  to  take  the  vacant  guardianship 
upon  himself — but  did  not  see  just  then  how  it  was 
to  be  brought  about. 

He  was  buried  in  these  thoughts  when  the  sound 

O 

of  horses' feet  aroused  him;  and  looking  up  he  saw 
Lord  Strathern  riding  down  toward  him  from  the 
city  gate,  folio  wad  by  a  party  of  young  officers.  His 
lordship  drew  up  as  he  approached,  and  said  :  "  L'Isle, 
I  am  glad  to  see  you  look  so  much  like  taking  the  field 
again.  Why,  your  ride  has  actually  brought  a  color 
into  your  cheeks."  In  truth,  L'Isle  had  turned  some 
what  red  on  seeing  suddenly  before  him  the  very 
man  he  had  just  been  condemning  in  secret  tribunal. 
"  We  cannot  let  you  play  invalid  much  longer,"  his 
lordship  continued.  "  We  begin  to  miss  you  sadly. 


58  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

By  the  by,  I  have  just  been  inspecting  the  troops. 
Their  condition  is  not  exactly  what  I  would  wish. 
But  the  less  we  say  about  the  matter — only — I  am 
glad  the  French  are  not  just  now  in  the  neighbor 
hood." 

"  But  they  have  not  told  us  how  long  they  meant 
to  stay  away,"  suggested  L'Isle. 

"  We  won't  see  them  soon,  however,"  said  his  lord 
ship  carelessly.  "  Well,  L'Isle,  I  will  begin  to  put 
you  on  duty  by  having  you  to  dine  with  me  to-mor 
row.  These  noisy  fellows  I  have  with  me  to-day 
would  be  too  much  for  your  nerves.  We  will  have  a 
quieter  party,  and  I  will  not  insist  on  your  doing 
your  full  turn  of  duty  at  the  bottle." 

"  I  will  obey  you,  my  lord,  with  the  greatest  pleas 
ure,  particularly  as  you  are  so  considerate  as  to  the 
bottle.  I  have  just  been  paying  my  respects,  for  the 
first  time,  to  Lady  Mabel." 

"  Well,  if  you  did  not  bore  her  by  the  length  of 
your  visit — a  thing  she  sometimes  complains  of— she 
will  be  glad  to  see  you  again  to-morrow."  And 
Lord  Strathern  rode  off — with  a  merry  party  at  his 
heels. 


THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  59 


CHAPTER  IY. 

Celia. — Here  comes  Monsieur  Le  Beau. 
Rosalind. — With  his  mouth  full  of  news. 

Celia. — Which  he  will  put  on  us  as  pigeons  feed  their  young. 
Rosalind. — Then  shall  we  be  news-crammed. 

As  You  Like  It. 

THE  next  morning  Colonel  L'Isle  was  seated  in  his 
room,  wrapped  in  his  cloak,  with  a  brasero  filled  with 
wood  embers  at  his  feet;  for  it  \vas  one  of  those 
windy,  chilly  days,  not  uncommon  in  this  fluctuating 
climate,  and  he  was  still  invalid  enough  to  be  keenly 
sensitive  to  these  sudden  changes  of  temperature. 
He  was,  too,  so  completely  wrapped  up  in  his  medi 
tations,  that  his  servant  had  twice  to  announce  that 
the  adjutant  was  in  the  next  room. 

"  Here,  already  !"  said  L'Isle  ;  "  I  did  not  expect 
him  until  ten  o'clock."  He  looked  at  his  watch. 
"  But  it  is  ten  already.  Here  have  I  been  thinking 
for  two  hours,  and  have  never  once  thought  of  the 
regiment.  I  am  acquiring  a  sad  habit  of  day-dream 
ing,  or,  rather,  my  mind  has  not  yet  recovered  its 
tone.  Ask  Lieutenant  Meynell  to  walk  in  here." 

The  regimental  business  was  soon  dispatched,  and 
the  adjutant,  who  was  a  capital  newsmonger,  began 
to  detail  the  local  news  of  the  day.  L'Isle  liked  to 


60  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH    LIFE. 

keep  himself  informed  of  what  was  going  on  around 
him,  on  the  easy  terms  of  listening  to  the  adjutant. 
But  this  morning  he  seemed  to  tire  soon  at  the  details 
of  small  intelligence,  much  of  which  was  of  a  sporting 
character,  such  as  this:  "Warren  has  succeeded  in 
buying  the  famous  dog  at  Estremoz ;  they  say  he  will 
collar  a  wolf  without  ceremony,  and  throttle  him  sin 
gle-handed  ;  and  he  has  the  knack  of  so  seizing  a  wild 
boar,  that  he  can  never  bring  his  tusks  to  bear  upon 
him." 

"  I  hope,"  said  L'Isle,  "  that  Warren  will  show  us 
many  trophies  of  his  prowess,  or  his  dog's  rather,  in 
the  hunt." 

"  He  had  to  pay  well  for  him,  though.  Fifty  moi- 
dores  wras  the  least  his  owner  would  take  for  him." 

"  I  sincerely  trust  that  Warren  will  get  fifty  moi- 
dores'  worth  of  sport  out  of  him." 

"  He  went  out  yesterday  to  try  him,"  continued 
Meynell,  "  but  Hatton,  who  was  with  him,  got  such  a 
fall  (he  is  a  villainous  rider,  without  knowing  it), 
that  they  had  great  trouble  in  getting  him  back  here, 
and  it  broke  up  the  day's  sport." 

"  Is  he  much  hurt  ?"  asked  L'Isle. 

"No  permanent  injury.  But  he  fell  on  his  head, 
and,  at  first,  they  thought  the  time  come  for  firing 
blank-cartridges  over  him." 

"  I  trust,  if  Hatton  is  bent  on  dying  in  the  field,  lie 
will  choose  some  occasion  when  they  do  not  fire  blank- 
cartridges." 

As  his  colonel  seemed  little  interested  in  his  sport- 


THE  ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  61 

ing  intelligence,  the  adjutant  turned  to  a  topic  that 
looked  a  little  more  like  business.  "I  see  that  Com 
missary  Shortridge  has  got  back." 

"Ah!"  said  L'Isle,  suppressing  a  yawn,  "where 
has  he  been?" 

"  He  has  been  to  Lisbon." 

"  What  carried  him  there  ?"  mechanically  asked  the 
colonel,  evidently  not  caring  to  know. 

"  Business  of  the  commissariat,  he  says." 

"  So  I  suppose,"  said  L'Isle.  carelessly. 

"  But  I  suppose  no  such  thing,"  said  Meynell.  "The 
first  thing  these  fellows  think  of  is  not  the  supply  of 
the  troops,  but  their  own  comfort.  He  only  went  to 
Lisbon  to  bring  his  wife  here." 

"What!"  said  L'Isle,  with  sudden  interest,  "is  Mrs. 
Shortridge  in  Elvas  ?" 

"Yes.     She  came  with  him  last  night." 

".And  is  she  to  remain  here  any  time?" 

"  As  long  as  we  stay,"  answered  Meynell,  surprised 
at  the  interest  his  superior  now  showed  at  his  intelli 
gence.  "  That  is,  if  Shortridge  can  establish  her  here 
comfortably.  You  know,  since  the  king's  money  has 
been  passing  through  his  hands,  and  some  of  it  has 
stuck  to  his  palms,  he  has  begun  to  give  himself  airs. 
He  speaks  with  the  most  gentlemanly  disgust  of  the 
narrow  and  inconvenient  lodgings  they  are  obliged  to 
put  up  with.  He  told  me  they  were  in  the  dirtiest 
part  of  the  town,  in  the  midst  of  the  filthiest  of  these 
Portuguese,  and  sooner  than  let  Mrs.  Shortridge  stay 
there,  he  will  take  her  toPortalegre,  or  back  to  Lisbon." 


62  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

"There  will  not  he  the  least  need  of  that,"  said 
L'Isle,  quickly ;  "  this  house  is  large  and  convenient 
enough" — and  he  looked  round  the  apartment  into  the 
room  beyond — "  and  is  one  of  the  best  situated  in 
Elvas." 

"But  you  are  occupying  it  yourself,  sir.  What 
good  will  that  do,  Shortridge  ?" 

"  Oh,  I  will  give  it  up  to  Shortridge.  It  is  quite 
thrown  away  on  a  bachelor  like  me.  Now  i  am  on 
duty  again,  I  prefer  being  near  the  regiment,  and  shall 
take  rooms  at  the  barracks." 

"  Shortridge  will  be  exceedingly  obliged  to  you. 
But,"  added  Meynell,  fishing  for  information,  "  I  did 
not  think  you  cared  a  farthing  whether  the  commis 
sary  got  into  good  quarters  or  no." 

"The  commissary !"  said  L'Isle,  looking  round  on 
his  companion  with  an  air  of  surprise  ;  then  he  added, 
in  a  tone  of  contempt,  "  he  may  lie  in  a  ditch.  Many 
a  better  man  has  done  it.  It  is  Mrs.  Commissary  for 
whom  I  would  find  good  quarters." 

"  Oh,  indeed !"  said  Meynell,  elevating  his  eye 
brows  a  good  deal,  "  I  overlooked  that.  But  I  was 
not  aware  that  you  had  ever  seen  her." 

"  Oh,  many  times  :  in  Lisbon,  last  year.  Indeed,  on 
one  occasion  I  did  her  a  well-timed  service." 

"  What  was  that  ? — if  I  may  be  allowed  to  ask." 

"Why,  Mrs.  Shortridge,  though  an  excellent  woman, 
is  a  little  afflicted  with  the  disease  of  sight-seeing,  and 
had  thrust  herself,  with  a  party  of  other  heretics,  into 
the  Patriarchal  Church,  to  witness  the  rending  of  the 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  63 

veil.  Do  you  know  what  that  means,  Meynell?  I 
believe  you  are  not  well  drilled  in  theology." 

"  Not  popish  theology." 

"  Nor  any  other,  I  fear.  However,  a  large  detach 
ment  of  the  live  and  dead  saints  were  there,  and,  cer 
tainly,  .half  the  rabble  of  Lisbon.  In  the  rush  of  this 
devout  crowd,  Mrs.  Shortridge  got  separated  from  her 
party,  and,  between  alarm  and  exhaustion,  fell,  faint 
ing,  on  the  pavement.  She  would  soon  have  been 
trampled  to  death,  had  I  not  picked  her  up  and  car 
ried  her  out  bodily.  I  had  to  swear  awfully  at  the 
rabble  to  make  them  give  way." 

"  That  was  no  small  service,"  said  Meynell ;  then, 
glancing  at  the  colonel's  thin  form,  "  I  am  afraid  you 
could  not  repeat  it  just  now.  Mrs.  Shortridge  is  a 
plump  little  body." 

"I  suppose  not.  Yet  there  is  no  knowing  what 
exertions  a  man  might  make  to  save  a  pretty  woman. 
However,  she  has  been  very  grateful  ever  since,  and 
whenever  we  meet  we  are  excellent  friends.  I  am 
glad  Shortridge  has  brought  her  here.  She  is  a  differ 
ent  sort  of  person  from  himself.  She  has  some  very 
pleasant  traits  of  character — in  fact,  she  is  a  very 
good  woman,"  and  he  sank  into  a  reverie,  apparently 
thinking  over  Mrs.  Commissary's  good  qualities. 

Meynell  had  nothing  more  to  tell,  and,  hopeless  of 
extracting  any  thing  more,  now  took  leave.  But  when 
he  had  gone  out  of  the  room,  his  colonel  called  him 
back  to  inquire  where  Shortridge  was  now  lodged. 
Having  given  as  precise  an  answer  as  he  could  to  this 


64  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

question,  tlie  adjutant  departed,  trying  as  lie  went,  to 
frame  such  a  definition  of  a  good  woman  as  would  fit 
liis  view  of  tins  case. 

This  little  conversation  seemed  to  have  revived 
L'Isle  a  good  deal.  He  looked  out  of  the  window 
and  pronounced  the  wind  to  have  fallen,  aad  that, 
after  all,  it  was  a  very  pleasant  day.  Calling  his  ser 
vant  to  bring  his  boots  and  brush  his  clothes,  he  was 
soon  after  on  tlie  praca  of  Elvas. 

This  exhibited  a  busy  scene;  for  the  troops  quar 
tered  in  Elvas  created  a  market,  and  drew  a  concourse 
of  people  from  the  surrounding  country.  Asses  laden 
with,  or  just  unladen  of,  country  produce,  were  group 
ed  about  the  square,  each  with  his  nose  tied  up  in  a 
net,  that  he  might  not  eat  his  saddle  or  panniers. 
Bullock  carts  were  seen  here  and  there,  among  them, 
many  of  the  oxen  lying  down  with  their  legs  doubled 
under  them,  taking  advantage  of  the  halt  to  enjoy 
their  'siesta.  A  crowd  of  peasants  hovered  about,  and 
the  sonorous  Spanish  mingling  with  the  abrupt  and 
nasal  Portuguese,  the  short  black  jackets  and  montero 
caps,  among  the  hats  and  vests,  generally  brown, 
showed  that  many  of  these  men  had  come  across  the 
Spanish  border.  Here  was  the  pig  merchant,  with 
his  unquiet  and  ear-piercing  merchandise,  and  the 
wine  merchant,  with  his  pitchy  goat-skin  sacks,  full 
of,  and  flavoring  the  mnJio  verde  Colonel  Bradshawe 
so  much  abhorred.  Here  were  peasant  women,  with 
poultry,  and  sausages,  and  goats'-milk  cheese;  and 
young  girls,  persuasively  offering  for  sale  the  contents 


THE   ACTEESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  65 

of  their  baskets,  oranges,  chesnuts,  bolotas,  and  other 
fruits  and  nuts.  Here,  in  the  crowd,  was  a  monk ; 
there,  a  secular  priest,  and  of  friars  a  plenty.  And 
here,  in  the  mids;  of  them,  were  the  broad-faced  Eng 
lish  soldiers,  touching  their  caps  as  L'Isle  passed 
among  them — their  faces  growing  broader  as  they  re 
marked  to  each  oth£r,  that  there  was  still  something 
left  of  the  colonel.  Here,  too,  were  the  lounging 
citizens  of  Elvas,  who  might  have  personified  otium 
cum  dignitate,  or  plain  English  laziness,  but  for  the 
presence  of  some  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  brigade, 
who  were  sauntering  about  with  their  hands  in  their 
pockets,  as  if  caring  for  nothing,  and  having  nothing 
to  do,  or  at  once  too  proud  and  lazy  to  do  it — not 
much  caring  which  way  their  steps  led  them,  but 
expecting,  of  course,  ^every  one  to  get  out  of  their 
way.  Yet  a  .spark  of  interest  would,  at  times,  shine 
out  from  them  at  the  sight  of  a  neat  figure,  or  a  pret 
ty  face,  among  the  rustic  belles,  whose  love  of  bright 
and  strongly  contrasted  colors  in  dress,  attracted  the 
eye,  and  gave  variety  to  the  scene. 

Some  of  these  gentlemen  stopped  L'Isle  to  talk  with 
him.  But,  avoiding  any  prolonged  conversation,  he 
hastened  across  the praca,  into  one  of  the  narrow  and 
uncleanly  streets,  along  which  he  picked  his  way, 
wishing  that  he  had  authority,  for  a  few  days,  to  turn 
the  good  people  of  Elvas,  clergy  and  all,  into  scaven 
gers,  and  enter  on  a  thorough  purification  of  the 
place,  beginning  with  the  persons  of  the  people  them 
selves.  A  moral  purification  might  possibly  follow, 
3* 


66  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

but  could  not  possibly  precede  this  physical  cleansing. 
Walking  along,  divided  between  these  thoughts  and 
the  necessity  of  looking  for  the  place  he  was  searching 
for,  he  heard  himself  called  by  some  one  behind  him. 
He  turned  ;  it  was  Commissary  Shortridge  himself, 
who  being  rather  pursy,  was  a  little  out  of  breath 
through  his  exertions  to  overtake  him. 

Now,  there  were  a  good  many  things  that  L'Isle 
despised.  But,  if  there  was  anything  that  he  did  de 
spise  beyond  all  others,  it  was  a  commissary — a  fel 
low  wrho  makes  his  gains  where  all  other  men  make 
their  losses  ;  who  devotes  himself  to  his  country's  ser 
vice  for  the  express  purpose  of  cheating  it ;  who  seizes 
the  hour  of  its  greatest  want  and  weakness,  to  bleed 
it  mofeu  freely ;  who,  as  often  as  he  can,  sells  to  his 
country  straw  for  hay,  chaff  for  corn,  and  bones  for 
beef;  the  master-stroke  of  whose  art  is  to  get  passed, 
by  fraudulent  vouchers,  accounts  full  of  imaginary 
articles,  charged  at  fabulous  prices  ;  in  short,  a  man 
who  loves  war  more  than  Mars  or  Achilles  ;  reaping, 
amidst  its  blood  and  havoc,  a  rich  harvest  in  safety. 
Our  commissary  was  not  quite  equal  in  professional 
skill  to  some  of  his  brethren.  Perhaps  he  had  some 
small  remnant  of  conscience  left,  or  of  patriotism,  or 
of  loyalty,  or  of  caution,  which  withheld  him  from 
plundering  king  and  country  with  both  hands.  Nev 
ertheless,  from  being  an  unprosperous  London  trades 
man,  he  had,  in  a  few  years,  contrived  to  line  his 
pockets  exceedingly  well,  and  had  now  grown  ambi 
tious  of  social  position. 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  67 

How  came  it  then,  when  the  commissary  had  ex 
pressed  very  copiously  his  delight  at  seeing  Colonel 
L'Isle  again,  and  yet  more  at  seeing  him  so  much 
better  in  health  and  strength  than  he  had  dared  to 
hope,  L'Isle  condescendingly  gave  him'  to  understand 
that  the  pleasure  of  this  meeting  was  not  all  on  the 
commissary's  side  ?  When  Shortridge  congratulated 
him  on  his  promotion,  and  yet  more  on  the  high  de 
serts  that  had  drawn  it  upon  him,  L'Isle's  manner 
implied  that  the  commissary's  good  opinion  gave  him 
greater  confidence  in  himself.  How  could  L'Isle  do 
this  ?  Simply  because  the  proudest  and  best  of  us  can 
tolerate,  and  even  flatter,  those  we  despise,  when  we 
have  urgent  occasion  to  use  them. 

The  commissary  then  said,  "  I  have  brought  Mrs. 
Shortridge  with  me  to  Elvas." 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it,"  answered  L'Isle,  with 
out  betraying  that  he  knew  it  before.  "Even  one 
English  lady  is  a  precious  addition  to  our  society  in 
this  dull  place." 

"  Mrs.  Shortridge  has  never  forgotten  your  rescuing 
her  from  under  the  feet  of  the  idolatrous  rabble  of 
Lisbon.  She  is  still  a  strong  friend  of  yours,  and  will 
be  delighted  to  see  you,  as  soon  as  she  is  mistress  of  a 
decent  apartment." 

"  Where  is  she  now  ?" 

"  Not  far  from  here — but  in  such  an  abominable 
hole,  that  a  lady  is  naturally  ashamed  to  be  caught 
there  by  any  genteel  acquaintance." 


68  THE   ACTRESS   IN    HIGH   LIFE. 

"  I   am  truly  sorry  to  hear  that  she  is  so  badly 
lodged." 

"  Our  officers,"  said  Shortridge,  "have  taken  up  all 
the  best  houses  ;  and  the  troops  being  quartered  here 
has  attracted  such  an  additional  population  from  the 
country  around,  that  1  was  afraid  I  would  have  to 
carry  Mrs.  Shortridge  to  rooms  in  the  barracks." 

"  That  will  never  do,"  said  L'Isle.  "  But,  pray,  if 
I  am  in  her  neighborhood,  let  me  call  on  Mrs.  Short 
ridge,  and  welcome  her  to  Elvas." 

Thus  urged,  the  commissary  led  the  way,  and  soon 
reached  his  lodgings.  They  found  the  lady  in  a  room 
of  some  size,  but  dark,  dirty,  and  offensive  enough 
to  eye  and  nose  to  disgust  her  with  Elvas  and  drive 
her  back  to  Lisbon,  without  unpacking  the  numerous 
trunks,  baskets,  band-boxes,  and  portable  furniture 
which  lumbered  the  room.  These  her  man-servant 
was  arranging,  under  her  direction,  while  she  was 
good-humoredly  trying  to  pacify  her  maid,  who,  with 
tears  in  her  eyes,  was  protesting  that  she  could  not 
sleep  another  night  in  that  coal-hole,  into  which  the 
people  of  the  house  had  thrust  her,  and  which  they 
would  persist  in  calling  a  chamber. 

Mrs.  Shortridge,  a  plump  and  pretty  woman  of 
eight-and-twenty,  was  a  good  deal  fluttered  at  seeing 
such  a  visitor  at  such  a  time.  She  declared  "that  she 
did  not  know  whether  she  was  more  delighted  or 
ashamed  to  see  Major — I  beg  your  pardon — Colonel 
L'Isle,  in  such  a  place ;  we,  who  have  been  accustom 
ed  to  a  suite  of  genteel  apartments  wherever  we  went." 


THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  69 

L'Isle  cast  his  eye  around  the  forlorn  and  dismal  walls. 
"  Let  me  beg  you,  Colonel  L'Isle,  to  be  conveniently 
near-sighted  during  your  visit.  I  would  not,  for  the 
world,  have  our  present  domicil,  and  our  household 
arrangements,  minutely  inspected  by  your  critical 
eye." 

Without  minding  her  protest,  he  completed  a  de 
liberate  survey ;  then  said,  suddenly,  "  Why,  Short- 
ridge,  how  could  you  think  of  shutting  up  a  lady  in 
such  a  dungeon  ?  If  Mrs.  Shortridge  were  not  the 
best-tempered  woman  in  the  world,  it  would  cause  a 
domestic  rebellion,  and  we  would  soon  see  her  posting 
back  to  Lisbon,  and  London,  perhaps,  without  leave 
or  license.  Do  you  forget  how  she  yearns  after  the 
two  little  boys  she  left  at  home,  that  you  venture  to 
aggravate  so  her  regrets  at  leaving  England  ?" 

"  How  can  I  help  it  ?"  said  Shortridge,  looking 
much  out  of  countenance  ;  "  I  have  been  into  a  dozen 
houses,  and  these  rooms  are  the  largest  and  least  com 
fortless  I  can  find." 

"  I  would  pitch  my  tent  in  the  praca,  and  pass  the 
winter  in  it,"  said  L'Isle,  "  sooner  than  share  with 
these  people  the  pig-sties  they  call  their  houses." 

"  But  a  lady  is  not  quite  so  hardy  or  fearless  as  a 
soldier,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  and  needs  more  sub 
stantial  shelter  and  protection  than  a  canvas  wall." 

"  lhave  some  thoughts  of  getting  rooms  in  the  bar 
racks,"  said  Shortridge ;  "  but  it  is  not  pleasant  for  a 
lady  to  be  in  the  midst  of  the  rank  and  file." 

"  Of  course  not.     By  the  by,"  said  L'Isle,  as  if  he 


70  THE  ACTKESS  IK  HIGH  LIFE. 

had  just  thought  of  it,  "  I  intend,  as  soon  as  I  get 
quite  well,  to  take  quarters  at  the  barracks  ;  I  lodge 
too  far  from  the  regiment  now.  I  may  as  well  hasten 
my  removal,  and  transfer  my  present  abode  to  you. 
My  house  is  large,  well  situated,  and  not  more  dilap 
idated  than  every  thing  else  is  in  this  country.  It 
will  suit  Mrs.  Shortridge  as  well  as  a  Portuguese  house 
can  suit  an  English  lady." 

"  But  I  cannot  think  of  turning  you  out  of  it,"  said 
Mrs.  Shortridge.  "  You  are  still  an  invalid,  and  need 
every  comfort  and  convenience  about  you." 

"I  am  nearly  as  well  as  1  ever  was  in  my  life," 
answered  L'Isle ;  "  a  little  like  the  lean  knight  of  La 
Mancha,  it  is  true,  but  time  and  good  feeding  will  soon 
cure  that.  And,  let  me  tell  you,  good  feeding  is  the 
order  of  the  day  here  just  now.  I  am  only  afraid  we 
will  eat  up  the  country  around,  before  the  opening  of 
the  campaign.  But  my  present  house  has  a  fault  to 
me,  which  will  be  none  to  you.  There  is  no  stabling 
for  my  horses,  unless  I  follow  the  Portuguese  custom, 
and  lodge  them  in  the  ground-floor  of  the  house.  I 
have  to  keep  them  at  the  barracks,  and  like  to  be  so 
quartered  that  I  can  put  my  foot  in  the  stirrup  at  a 
minute's  warning." 

The  commissary  and  his  wife  made  many  scruples 
at  accepting  his  offer,  but  L'Isle  overruled  them,  and 
at  length  it  was  settled  that  he  should  march  out  at 
the  end  of  three  days,  and  Mrs.  Shortridge  and  suite 
should  garrison  the  vacant  post. 

"  And  now  I  will  leave  you,"  said  L'Isle ;  "  I  will 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  71 

finish  my  visit  when  you  are  more  suitably  lodged. 
I  know  how  annoying  it  must  be  to  a  neat  English 
woman  to  receive  her  friends  in  such  a  place  as  this." 
And  he  left  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Commissary  full  of  grati 
tude  for  his  attentions,  and  of  a  growing  conviction 
that  they  were  people  of  some  importance  and  fashion. 
The  military  gentlemen  in  Elvas  had,  most  of  them, 
abundant  leisure  on  their  hands,  and,  like  the  Athe 
nians  in  St.  Paul's  day,  spent  their  time  in  little  else 
"  than  either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new  thing  every 
day."  Colonel  Bradshawe,  strolling  about  the  praca 
with  this  praiseworthy  object,  had  the  luck  to  meet 
with  Adjutant  Meynell,  and  at  once  began  to  pump 
him  for  news.  But  the  adjutant,  being  a  man  of  the 
same  kidney,  needed  no  pumping  at  all.  He  at  once 
commenced  laying  open  to  the  colonel,  under  the 
strictest  injunctions  to  secrecy,  the  thing  weighing 
most  on  his  mind,  which  was  the  curious  little  con 
versation  he  had  just  held  with  his  own  colonel,  not 
forgetting  to  give  a  few  extra  touches  to  the  ex 
pressions  of  satisfaction  that  the  news  of  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge's  arrival  had  called  forth.  After  sifting  and 
twisting  the  matter  to  their  own  satisfaction,  they 
parted,  and  the  colonel  continued  his  stroll,  chewing 
the  cud  of  the  last  news  he  had  swallowed.  An  hour 
or  so  after,  whom  should  he  meet  with,  by  the  greatest 
good  luck,  but  the  commissary  himself.  Now,  Short- 
ridge  was  rather  a  favorite  with  the  colonel,  being  a 
man  who  knew  how  to  make  himself  useful.  For 
instance,  he  was  the  very  agent  who  had  so  judicious- 


72  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

ly  declined  purchasing  the  refuse  sherry  wines  which 
Soult,  Victor  &  Co.  had  contemptuously  left  on  the 
market;  while,  with  equal  judgment  arid  prompti 
tude,  he  had  laid  in  for  the  mess  an  abundant  stock 
of  the  best  port,  malmsey  and  Madeira.  Two  such 
cronies,  meeting  for  the  first  time  for  ten  days,  had 
much  conference  together ;  in  the  course  of  which  the 
colonel  learned  all  about  the  straits  Mrs.  Shortridge 
was  put  to  for  lodgings,  and  how  she  was  to  be  re 
lieved  through  the  considerate  kindness  of  L'Isle. 
This  led  to  a  minute  account  of  the  occasion  on  which 
their  acquaintance  began,  and  rather  an  exaggerated 
statement  of  the  social  relations  existing  between  the 
aristocratic  colonel  and  the  Shortridge  firm. 

"  I  have  been  sometimes  galled  and  ruffled  by  his 
haughty  manner,"  said  the  commissary  ;  "  but  now  I 
know  it  is  only  his  manner.  He  is  very  considerate 
of  other  people,  and  is  getting  more  and  more  agree 
able  every  day." 

The  commissary  not  having,  like  the  colonel,  noth 
ing  to  do,  now  took  his  leave  ;  a  little  surprised,  how 
ever,  seeing  how  glad  Bradshawe  had  been  to  meet 
with  him,  at  his  not  inviting  him  to  dine  that  day 
with  the  mess,  as  he  had  often  done  before. 

It  was  observed  at  the  mess  table  of  the regi 
ment,  that  the  colonel  was  in  particularly  fine  spirits 
to-day.  Always  companionable,  he  this  day  enjoyed 
his  dinner,  his  glass,  and  his  jokes,  and  other  men's 
jokes,  with  peculiar  gusto.  At  length,  however,  the 
table  grew  thin.  Duty,  pleasure,  satiety,  and  rest- 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  73 

lessness,  took  off  man  after  man,  particularly  of  the 
younger  officers,  and  the  colonel  was  left  at  last  to  the 
support  of  three  or  four  of  his  special  confidants,  the 
stanchest  sitters  in  the  regiment. 

Gathering  them  around  him,  he  called  for  afresh  de 
canter,  filled  their  glasses,  and  ordered  the  last  servant 
out  of  the  room.  After  slowly  draining  his  glass,  and 
dwelling  awhile  on  the  rich  flavor  of  the  wine,  he  re 
marked  :  "We  certainly  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to 
Shortridge,  for  the  good  faith  in  which  he  executes  these 
little  commissions.  They  are,  we  should  remember, 
quite  beside  his  official  duties.  I  never  tasted  better 
Madeira  of  its  age  in  my  life — it  almost  equals  my 
lord's  best,  which  is  ten  years  older;  and  I  do  not 
think  that  Shortridge  made  more  than  two  fair  profits 
out  of  us.  I  met  him,  by  the  by,  to-day,  and  would 
have  had  him  to  dine  with  us;  but,  for  certain  rea 
sons,  I  think  his  best  place,  just  now,  is  at  home, 
w  atching  over  his  domestic  relations." 

"  "What  is  there  in  them,"  exclaimed  one  of  the 
party,  "that  needs  such  close  watching?" 

The  colonel  seemed  for  a  moment  to  debate  in  his 
own  mind  the  propriety  of  making  a  revelation,  then 
said :  "  We  are  all  friends  here  ;  and,  while  it  is  de 
sirable  in  our  profession,  and  in  all  others,  to  know 
thoroughly  the  men  we  live  among,  still  there  are 
many  little  things  that  are  not  to  be  published  on 
parade,  like  a  general  order." 

His  discreet  auditors  assenting  to  this  truth,  he  then 
gave  a  full  detail  of  Adjutant  Meynell's  morning 


74  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

conversation  with  his  colonel,  painting  broadly  and 
brightly  L'Isle's  surprise  and  delight  on  hearing  that 
Mrs.  Shortridge  was  in  Elvas.  "  What  do  you  think 
of  that,  Fox  ?" 

Captain  Fox  thought  L'Isle  very  imprudent.  "  But 
he  is  young  yet,  and  lacks  secrecy  and  self-command." 

"I  had  not  well  digested  what  Meynell  had  told 
me,"  continued  Bradshawe,  "when  I  met  Shortridge, 
and  lo !  L'Isle  had  already  found  them  out  in  their 
dirty  lodgings,"  and  the  colonel  went  on  to  repeat  and 
embellish  Shortridge's  narrative  of  L'Isle's  kind  atten 
tion,  and  the  origin  of  their  intimacy.  Various  were 
the  comments  of  the  company  on  the  aifair.  But 
they  all  agreed  to  the  justness  of  their  colonel's  criti 
cism,  when  he  remarked  :  "That  scene  in  the  Patri 
archal  Church  must  have  been  exceedingly  well  got 
up.  I  should  like  much  to  have  been  by.  Have  you 
ever  remarked  that  a  woman  never  faints  out-and-out, 
when  there  is  no  man  near  enough,  and  ready  enough, 
to  catch  her  before  she  falls  to  the  ground  ?" 

This  was  a  physiological  fact,  as  to  female  faint 
ing,  that  some  of  the  company  admitted  was  new  to 
them. 

"  Now,  you  are  all  sharp  fellows,"  said  Bradshawe, 
with  a  patronizing  wave  of  the  hand  ;  "and  some  of 
you  profess  to  be  men  of  intrigue ;  yet  I  doubt 
whether  any  one  of  you  can  tell  me  why  the  house  is 
not  handed  over  to  Shortridge  until  at  the  end  of 
three  days." 

One  suggested  one  reason  ;  another,  another.     But 


THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE.  75 

wine  had  failed  to  sharpen  their  wits,  and  he  scorn 
fully  rejected  their  solutions. 

"  Three  days  may  be  needed,"  said  he,  gravely,  "  to 
fit  a  double  set  of  keys  to  every  lock  in  the  house. 
Shortridge  will  have  one.  L'Isle  may  keep  the  other, 
and  with  it  the  power  of  letting  himself  in  and  out  at 
any  minute  of  the  twenty-four  hours." 

How  stupid  did  his  companions  think  themselves. 
The  thing  was  now  patent  to  the  dullest  apprehension. 

"  It  is  curious,"  continued  the  colonel,  "  that  Short- 
ridge,  so  keen  a  fellow  in  all  business  transactions 
(for  both  we  and  the  government  have  found  him  too 
sharp  for  us  before  now),  should  be  in  these  little 
delicate  domestic  relations  such  an  egregious  gull. 
You  all  know  I  do  not  view  these  little  matters  from 
the  parson's  point  of  view ;  but  still,  there  is  a  pro 
priety  to  be  observed.  To  think,"  continued  Brad- 
shawe,  with  a  countenance  of  comic  horror,  "of  his 
proposing  to  make  our  friend  Shortridge  lie  in  a  ditch, 
for  his  accommodation !  Our  punctilious  comrade  is 
getting  to  be  a  very  bare-faced  fellow.  Just  snatched 
from  the  brink  of  the  grave,  too,"  .added  he,  in  a  sud 
den  fit  of  pious  indignation.  "  What  a  deliberate, 
cold-blooded  fellow !" 

Having  thus,  by  fitting  a  few  chance  hints  to  each 
other,  brought  out  a  pretty  piece  of  Spanish  intrigue, 
that  would  have  delighted  Calderon  or  Lope  de  Vega, 
the  colonel  emptied  the  decanter  by  filling  the  glasses 
all  round,  and  each  man  emptying  his  glass,  the  com 
pany  dispersed. 


76  THE   ACTKESS   IN"   HIGH   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

I  praise  God  for  you,  sir :  your  reasons  at  dinner  have  been  sharp  and 
sententious ;  pleasant  without  scurrility,  witty  without  affectation,  au 
dacious  without  impudence,  learned  without  opinion,  and  strange  with 
out  heresy. — Love's  Labor  Lost. 

L'IsLE,  meanwhile,  after  spending  an  unwonted  time 
at  his  toilet,  drew  himself  up  to  the  utmost  of  the  five 
feet  ten  which  nature  had  allotted  to  him,  to  shake  off 
the  stoop  which  he  imagined  himself  to  have  con 
tracted  during  his  long  hours  of  languor  and  suffer 
ing.  He  then  inspected  himself  most  critically  in  the 
glass,  to  see  how  far  he  had  recovered  his  usual  good 
looks.  But  that  truthful  counsellor  presented  to  him 
cheeks  still  sunken  and  pallid,  and  sharpened  features. 
The  clear  gray  eye  looked  out  from  a  cavern,  and  the 
rich  nut-brown  hair  hung  over  a  brow  covered  with 
parchment.  His  lean  figure  no  longer  filled  the  uni 
form  which  once  fitted  it  so  well.  He  stood  before 
his  glass  in  no  peacock  mood  of  self-admiration  ;  but 
was  compelled  to  own  that  he  was  not,  just  now  at 
least,  the  man  to  fascinate  a  lady's  eye;  so  he  re 
solved  to  take  Lady  Mabel  by  the  ear,  which  is,  in 
fact,  the  surest  way  to  catch  a  woman. 

Lord  Stmtherii  kept  his  promise :  to  have  no  noisy 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  77 

fellows  at  dinner  to-day.  Perhaps  an  occasional  vis 
itor,  who  hovered  near,  the  gout,  made  him  more 
readily  dispense  with  his  more  jovial  companions. 
The  only  guest,  beside  L'Isle,  was  Major  Con  way,  of 
the  light  dragoons. 

A  party  of  four  is  an  excellent  number  for  conver 
sation,  especially  if  there  be  no  rivalry  among  them. 
The  major  had  served  long  in  India,  but  had  arrived 
in  the  Peninsula  only  toward  the  end  of  the  last  cam 
paign.  He  wished  to  learn  all  he  could  of  the  coun 
try,  the  people  and  the  war ;  and  nearly  five  years  of 
close  observation,  industrious  inquiry,  and  active  ser 
vice  had  rendered  L'Isle  just  the  man  to  gratify  his 
wishes.  Lord  Strathern,  too,  in  a  long  and  varied 
military  career,  had  seen  much,  and  the  old  soldier 
had  not  failed  to  la}^  in  a  stock  of  shrewd  observation 
and  amusing  anecdote.  So  that,  to  a  young  listener 
like  Lady  Mabel,  eager  to  learn  and  quick  to  appre 
ciate,  two  or  three  hours  glided  away  in  striking  and 
agreeable  contrast  with  the  more  jovial  and  somewhat 
noisy  festivities  of  yesterday  and  many  a  previous 
day.  L'Isle  made  no  attempt  to  engross  her  atten 
tion.  Major  Conway  had  left  a  wife  in  England, 
which  shut  out  any  feelings  of  rivalry  with  him. 
L'Isle  was  thus  quite  at  his  ease,  and  showed  to  much 
advantage;  for  it  is  surprising  how  agreeable  some 
people  can  make  themselves  when  they  are  bent  upon 
it.  He  combined  the  qualities  of  a  good  talker  and  a 
good  listener ;  was  communicative  to  the  major ;  yet 
more  attentive  to  his  lordship;  and  most  careful, 


78  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

above  all  things,  to  turn  the  conversation  to  topics  in 
teresting  to  Lady  Mabel,  who,  while  listening,  asking 
questions,  and  offering  an  occasional  remark,  was  fast 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  L'Isle,  young  as  he  was, 
was  by  far  the  best  informed  and  most  considerate 
man  in  the  brigade.  She  more  particularly  wondered 
how,  while  tied  down  to  his  military  duties,  he  had 
found  time  to  master  the  languages,  history,  topog 
raphy,  and  even  the  antiquities  of  the  peninsula. 
He  knew  personally  many  a  Spaniard  and  Portuguese 
who  had  made  himself  conspicuous  for  good  or  ill,  at 
this  fearful  crisis  of  his  country's  history.  He  thor 
oughly  understood  the  people,  with  all  their  virtues 
and  their  vices,  that  perhaps  outweigh  those  virtues  ; 
yet  he  seemed  by  no  means  to  despise  them.  Amidst 
the  too  common  baseness  and  corruption,  he  could 
paint  vividly  their  nobler  traits,  and  illustrate  them 
by  many  a  pointed  anecdote  and  thrilling  narrative. 
Lady  Mabel  could  not  help  thinking  what  a  delightful 
companion  he  would  be  on  a  tour  through  these  coun 
tries,  it'  she  found  so  much  pleasure  in  merely  listen 
ing  to  his  account  of  what  he  had  seen  and  witnessed 
there. 

"Traveling  is  my  passion, "said  Lady  Mabel.  "From 
childhood  I  have  longed  to  see  foreign  lands,  and  to 
find  myself  surrounded  by  outlandish  people.  I  sup 
pose  it  is  owing  to  my  having  been  kept  close  at  home, 
yet  encouraged  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  travelers 
over  page  after  page  of  their  rambles.  My  journey 
hither,  through  the  wilderness  of  Alemtejo,  has  but 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  79 

wlietted  my  appetite.  And  there  is  something  pecu 
liarly  fascinating  in  the  idea  of  traveling  in  Spain,  the 
land  of  adventure  and  romance." 

"  Just  now  is  no  good  time  for  such  a  journey," 
said  L'Isle ;  "  there  are  too  many  French  and  other 
robbers  besetting  the  roads." 

"  There  would  be  too  little  of  romance  and  too  much 
of  adventure  in  meeting  with  them,"  said  she.  "  It  is 
most  provoking  to  be  thus  tantalized ;  the  cup  at  my 
lips,  and  I  cannot  taste  of  it ;  Spain  in  sight,  and  I 
cannot  explore  it.  I  am  eager  to  visit  the  Alhambra 
and  Escurial,  and  other  show-places,  and  take  a  long 
ramble  in  the  Sierra  Morena.  I  would  wish  to  engage 
the  most  skillful  arriero  in  all  Spain,  and,  mounted  on 
his  best  mule,  roam  all  over  the  country,  through 
every  mountain-pass,  and  across  every  desolate  plain, 
and  make  a  pilgrimage  to  every  spot  hallowed  by 
poetic  or  historic  fame.  I  would  search  out,  as  a 
shrine  of  chivalry,  each  field  on  which  the  Cid  dis 
played  the  gleaming  blade  of  Tizona,  and  on  which 
the  hoofs  of  his  Babieca  trampled  on  the  Moor.  I 
wonder  if  my  guide  could  not  show  me,  too,  the  found 
ation-stones  of  the  manor-house  of  the  good  knight  of 
La  Mancha,  the  site  at  least  of  the  bower  of  Dnlcinea 
del  Toboso,  and  Gil  Bias'  robbers'  cave  ?" 

"Just  at  this  time,"  said  L'Isle,  "the  cave  of  Cap 
tain  Rolando  and  his  comrades,  being  in  the  north  of 
Leon,  is  particularly  inaccessible,  for  there  are  some 
ninety  thousand  similar  gentry  wintering  between  us 
and  it." 


80  THE   ACTRESS   IK   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  Those  fellows  have  been  very  quiet  of  late,  and  it 
will  probably  be  some  time  before  they  are  stirring 
again,"  said  Lord  Strathern. 

"  We  will  give  them  reason  to  bestir  themselves  as 

o 

soon  as  the  corn  is  grown  enough  to  fodder  our  horses," 
answered  L'Isle.  "  Meanwhile,  Lady  Mabel,  there  is 
much  worth  seeing-  in  Portugal.  All  is  not  like  the 

O  O 

wilderness  of  Alemtejo.  If  you  will  believe  the  Por 
tuguese,  it  was  not  to  the  imagination  of  the  poet,  but 
to  the  eye  of  the  traveler  in  Lusitania,  that  we  owe 
the  poetic  pictures  of  the  Elysian  fields.  All  the  Por 
tuguese  agree  that  their  country  is  crowded  with  the 
choice  beauties  and  wonders  of  nature,  and  they  cer 
tainly  should  know  their  own  country  best.  I  have 
seen  enough  of  it  to  satisfy  me,  that  though  but  a 
little  corner  of  the  smallest  of  the  continents,  it  is  a 
lovely  and  remarkable  part  of  the  earth.  Its  beauti 
ful  mountains,  not  sublime,  perhaps,  like  the  Alps 
and  Pyrenees,  but  exquisitely  rich  and  wonderful  in 
coloring,  with  a  variety  of  romantic  and  ever-shifting 
scenery,  are  perhaps  unrivaled  in  Europe;  its  grand 
rivers,  often  unite  on  their  banks  the  wildest  rocks 
with  the  loveliest  woodland  scenes;  its  balmy  climate 
fosters  in  many  places  an  ever  green  foliage  and  a 
perpetual  spring." 

"  From  your  description  of  the  country,"  said  Lady 
Mabel,  "  one  might  take  you  for  a  Portuguese." 

"  Yd  they  themselves  have  little  perception  of  the 
real  beauties  of  nature,"  said  L'Isle.  "They  will  lead 
you  away  from  the  loveliest  scene  in  their  land,  to 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  81 

point  out  some  curiosity,  more  to  their  taste;  some 
miraculous  image,  some  saintly  relic  brought  by  an 
gels  from  the  Holy  Land,  or,  perhaps,  some  local 
natural  phenomenon,  which  has  a  dash  of  the  wonder 
ful  about  it.  For  instance,  when  at  Braga,  three  years 
ago,  with  my  hands  full  of  business,  and  anxious  at 
the  same  time  to  learn  all  I  could  of  the  country 
around,  my  Portuguese  companion  compelled  me  to 
waste  a  precious  hour  in  visiting  a  famous  spring  in 
the  garden  of  a  convent  of  St.  Augustine.  The  water, 
you  must  know,  is  intensely  cold,  and  if  a  bottle  of 
wine  be  immersed  in  it,  it  is  instantly  turned  into 


vinegar." 


"  Did  you  see  that?"  asked  Lady  Mabel. 

"  When  I  called  for  a  bottle  of  wine,  the  good 
fathers  told  me  they  had  given  all  they  had  to  a  de 
tachment  of  Portuguese  troops  that  marched  by  the 
day  before — a  charity  more  wondrous  than  the  virtue 
of  the  spring." 

"  Yet  it  is  a  pity  you  could  not  test  the  virtues  of 
this  wonderful  spring,"  said  she. 

"  Not  more  wonderful,"  saidL'Isle,  "  than  the  foun 
tain  in  the  village  of  Friexada.  Its  water,  too,  is 
excessively  cold,  and  of  so  hungry  a  nature,  that  in 
less  than  an  hour  it  consumes  a  joint  of  meat,  leaving 
the  bones  quite  bare." 

"  You  of  course  tested  that,"  said  she. 

"  Unluckily,"  said  L'Isle,  "our  party  had  only  one 
leg  of  mutton  in  store,  and  were  too  hungry  to  risk 
their  dinner  in  the  fountain's  maw." 


82.  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  You  are  a  bad  traveler,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "and 
seem  never  to  have  with  you  the  means  of  testing  the 
truth  of  what  you  are  told." 

"I  take  with  me  a  good  stock  of  faith,"  said  L'Isle, 
"  and  believe,  or  seem  to  believe,  all  that  I  am  told. 
This  pleases  these  people  wonderfully  well,  and  keep 
ing  them  in  good  humor  is  the  main  point  just  now. 
There  is,  however,  near  Estremoz,  which  place  you 
passed  through  coming  hither,  a  curiosity  of  somewhat 
a  similar  kind.  It  is  a  spring  which  is  dry  in  winter, 
but  pours  out  a  considerable  stream  in  summer.  Its 
wraters  are  of  so  petrifying  a  quality,  that  the  wheels 
of  the  mills  it  works  are  said  to  be  soon  turned  into 
stone." 

"I  trust,  for  your  credit  as  a  traveler,"  said  Lady 
Mabel,  "  that  you  will  be  able  to  say  that  you,  for 
once,  proved  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  what  you 
heard." 

"  I  did,  and  found  them  incrnsted  with  stone.  But 
that  is  not  so  curious  as  the  prophetic  spring  of  Xido, 
which  foretells  to  the  rustics  around  a  fruitful  season, 
by  pouring  forth  but  little  water,  or  a  year  of  scarcity 
by  an  abundant  flow.  These  are  little  things;  but 
were  I  to  run  over  each  class  of  objects  of  curiosity 
or  interest  this  country  affords,  I  would  soon  convince 
you  that  you  were  already  in  a  land  of  wonders  and 
rare  sights." 

"  But  even  here  I  am  trammeled.  Papa  did  not 
come  out  here  to  examine  the  curiosities  of  the  coun 
try,  or  to  hunt  out  picturesque  scenery,  Moorish  anti- 


THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  83 

quities,  or  Roman  ruins,  and  I  cannot  go  scampering 
over  the  neighborhood  with  an  escort  of  volunteers 
from  the  brigade  or  the  Light  Dragoons.  It  is  true 
that  Mrs.  Captain  Howe,  who  is  a  great  connoisseuse 
in  nature  and  art,  has  promised  to  be  my  guide  in  ex 
ploring  the  country  as  soon  as  she  gets  rid  of  her 
rheumatism.  But  from  the  number  of  her  flannel 
wrappers,  I  infer  that  there  is  no  hope  of  her  soon 
extending  her  explorations  beyond  the  walls  of  her 
room." 

"  You  must  indeed  feel  the  want  of  a  companion  to 
free  you  from  the  awkwardness  of  your  situation ; 
here  with  no  company  but  those  rude  comrades  his 
majesty  has  sent  out  hither." 

"  My  want  is  so  urgent  that  were  it  not  for  my  loy 
alty,  I  would  now  exchange  a  crack  regiment  for  a 
companionable  woman." 

"  I  am  glad,  then,  to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  a  lady 
has  arrived  in  Elvas,  who  may  be  very  useful  in 
filling  up  this  awkward  gap  in  the  circle  of  your  ac 
quaintance  !" 

"  A  lady  ?     An  English  lady  ?     Who  is  she  2" 

"An  English  lady.  One  old  enough  to  be  your 
chaperon,  and  young  enough  to  be  your  companion. 
She  has  some  other  merits  too,  not  the  least  of  which, 
in  my  estimation  is  that  she  professes  to  be  a  great 
friend  of  mine." 

"  A  crowning  virtue,  that,"  said  lady  Mabel." 

"  It  does  not  blind  me,  however,  to  two  or  three 
faults,  and  a  misfortune  she  labors  under." 


84  THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

"  What  then  are  her  faults  ?" 

"  The  first  is,  that  she  is,  it  must  be  confessed,  rather 
simple." 

"  Simplicity  may  be  a  virtue.  We  will  overlook 
that." 

"  Then  she  sometimes  clips  the  king's  English  !" 

"  There  is  no  statute  against  itr,  like  clipping  his 
coin." 

"  She  is  afflicted,  moreover,  with  an  inveterate  love 
of  sight-seeing." 

"That  is  a  positive  virtue.  I  have  fellow-feeling 
with  her.  She  would  be  no  true  woman  if  she  ever 
lost  her  chance  at  a  spectacle.  But  what  is  her  mis 
fortune  ?" 

"  She  is  the  wife  of  a  commissary,"  said  L'Isle  with 
a  very  grave  face. 

"Why  L'Isle,"  said  Lord  Strathern,  "  has  Shortridge 
brought  his  wife  to  Elvas?" 

"  Yes,  my  lord,  they  came  last  night.  Yes,  Lady 
Mabel ;  the  woman  who  marries  a  commissary  can 
hardly  escape  being  the  wife  of  a  knave  !" 

"  But  I  really  believe,"  said  his  lordship,  "  that  our 
rascal  is  the  most  honest  fellow  in  the  commissariat 
department." 

"  That  is  not  saying  much  for  his  honesty." 

"  I  hope  for  the  honor  of  human  nature,"  inter 
posed  Major  Conway,  "  that  there  are  honest  men 
among  commissaries  ?" 

"  It  is  no  imputation  on  human  nature  to  think 
otherwise,"  said  L'Isle;  "  You  might  as  soon  hope 


THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  85 

there  are  honest  men  among  pickpockets.  For  some 
good  reason  or  other,  honest  men  cannot  follow  either 
trade." 

"That  is  one  of  your  prejudices,  L'lsle,"  said  Lord 
Strathern,  "  and  in  them  you  are  a  true  bigot.  You 
are  too  hard  upon  poor  Shortridge  and  his  brethren. 
Shortridge  is  a  very  good  fellow,  though  a  little  vulgar 
it  is  true.  And  he  always  cheats  with  a  conscience, 
and  so  do  many  of  his  brethren." 

"  I  shall  have  no  scruples  of  conscience  in  making 
use  of  Mrs.  Commissary,  if  I  can,"  said  Lady  Mabel. 
"  I  hope  she  is  of  a  sociable  temper  ?" 

"  Quite  so.  And  moreover,  I  forgot  one  trait  that 
will  make  her  particularly  accessible  to  you.  She 
is  very  fond  of  people  of  fashion,  and  a  title  secures 
her  esteem. 

"  Then  she  belongs  to  me,  for  I  shall  not  be  want 
ing  in  attention  to  your  newly  arrived  friend.  How 
comes  she  to  be  your  friend  ?" 

L'lsle  told  Mrs.  Shortridge's  adventure  in  the  Patri 
archal  church  ;  mentioned  the  straits  she  was  now  in 
for  lodgings,  and  his  intention  to  yield  his  present 
quarters  to  her. 

"Why  Colonel  L'lsle,"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel, 
"  you  must  be  the  very  pink  of  chivalry.  I  do  not 
know  which  most  to  admire,  your  gallant  rescue  of 
the  dame,  or  your  self-sacrificing  spirit  in  finding  her 
a  home." 

"  You  will  make  Shortridge  jealous,  L'lsle,  by  tak 
ing  such  good  care  of  his  wife,"  said  Lord  Strathern. 


86  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

"  Our  sharp  friend  has  too  mucn  sense,"  answered 
L'Isle,  "  to  be  guilty  of  such  folly  as  that." 

Major  Conway  setting  the  example,  L'Isle  now 
thought  it  time  to  take  his  leave,  and  he  returned  to 
his  quarters  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  thought  he  had 
done  a  good  day's  work." 

"I  think,"  said  Lord  Strathern  to  his  daughter, 
"  that  L'Isle  is  improving  in  manners." 

"  His  manners  are  good,  Papa.  Were  they  ever 
otherwise  ?" 

"I  mean  that  he  is  becoming  more  conciliatory, 
and  more  considerate  of  other  people.  He  has  scarce 
ly  differed  from  me  to-day,  and  certainly  did  not  un 
dertake  to  set  me  right,  or  contradict  me  even  once,  a 
habit  he  is  much  addicted  to,  and  very  unbecoming  in 
so  young  a  man  !  It  is  certainly,  too,  very  kind  of 
him  to  give  up  his  comfortable  quarters  to  the  Short- 
ridges,  in  their  distress,  particularly  as  I  know  he  de 
spises  the  man." 

Now  do  not  blunder  on  to  the  hasty  conclusion, 
good  reader,  that  L'Isle,  having,  at  first  sight,  plunged 
over  head  and  ears  in  love  with  Lady  Mabel,  had  re 
solved  to  win  and  wear  her  with  the  least  possible  loss 
of  time  ;  that  he  was  now  investing  the  fortress,  about 
to  besiege  it  in  form,  and  would  hold  himself  in  read 
iness  to  carry  it  by  storm  on  the  first  opportunity. 
He  acknowledged  to  himself  no  such  intention  ;  and 
he  doubtless  knew  his  own  mind  best.  Without  ex 
actly  holding  the  opinion  of  Sir  John,  as  set  forth  by 
his  follower,  Bardolph,  that  a  soldier  is  better  accom- 


THE  ACTBESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  87 

modated  than  with  a  wife — he  had  often  strenuously 
maintained,  in  opposition  to  some  love-stricken  com 
rade,  that,  in  the  midst  of  a  bloody  war,  a  soldier  can 
give  no  worse  proof  of  devotion  to  the  lady  of  his 
choice,  than  urging  her  to  become  a  promising  candi 
date  for  early  widowhood.  He  preached  exceedingly 
well  on  this  text,  and  it  is  but  fair  to  believe  that  he 
would  practice  what  he  preached.  No !  in  the  in 
terest  he  took  in  Lady  Mabel's  situation,  he  was  actu 
ated  by  no  selfish  or  personal  motives.  He  acquitted 
himself  of  that.  Had  he  come  aOoss  Lady  Mabel's 
old  Lisbon  coach,  beset  by  robbers,  in  her  journey 
through  the  Alemtejo,  he  would  have  dashed  in 
among  them,  sword  in  hand,  like  a  true  gentleman, 
and  a  good  knight.  Now,  when  he  saw  her  sur 
rounded  by  evils  and  embarrassments  of  a  less  tangi 
ble  kind,  the  same  spirit  of  chivalry  brought  him 
promptly  to  her  aid. 

Lady  Mabel  lost  no  time  in  adding  Mrs.  Shortridge 
to  the  list  of  her  female  acquaintances  in  Elvas, 
which,  unlike  that  of  her  male  friends  was  so  short 
that  this  new  comer  was  the  only  one  available  as 
a  companion.  This  jewel  of  a  companion,  which 
elsewhere  might  have  escaped  her  notice,  was  now 
seized  upon  as  a  diamond  of  the  first  water  ;  and  Mrs. 
Shortridge  was  happy  and  flattered  to  find  herself  the 
associate  of  a  lady  of  rank,  not  to  speak  of  her  other 
merits. 

It  is  not  always  similarity  of  character  that  makes 
people  friends.  It  quite  as  often  makes  them  rivals. 


88  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

To  have  what  your  companion  wants,  and  to  need 
what  he  can  afford  you,  is  a  better  foundation  for 
those  social  partnerships,  often  dignified  with  the 
name  of  friendship.  The  great  talker  wants  a  good 
listener ;  the  sluggish  or  melancholic  are  glad  of  a 
companion  who  will  undertake  the  active  duty  of 
providing  conversation  and  amusement ;  he  whose 
nature  it  is  to  lead,  wants  some  one  who  will  follow  ; 
and  the  doubting  man  welcomes  as  a  strong  ally,  him 
who  will  decide  for  him.  As  Dogberry  says,  "  when 
two  men  ride  oii£  horse,  one  must  ride  behind,"  and 
the  social,  compliant  and  admiring  temper  of  Mrs. 
Shortridge  fitted  in  so  well  with  the  animated,  impul 
sive,  and  vigorous  spirit  of  Lady  Mabel,  that  some 
thing  very  like  friendship  grew  up  between  them. 

Lady  Mabel's  habits  now  underwent  a  change, 
which  proved  that  her  late  mode  of  life,  and  her  morn 
ing  and  evening  levees  of  epaulettes,  had  been  quite  as 
much  the  result  of  necessity  as  of  choice.  Her  father's 
house  was  still  much  frequented  by  her  gay  and  dash 
ing  comrades.  But  whenever  there  was  a  large  com 
pany  to  dinner,  or  any  other  cause  brought  many  of 
the  gentlemen  to  head-quarters,  she  made  a  point  of 
having  Mrs.  Shortridge  at  hand  to  countenance  and 
sustain  her ;  and  in  return  she  would  often  mount  her 
horse  early  and  canter  into  Elvas,  followed  only  by  a 
groom,  to  shut  herself  up  with  Mrs.  Shortridge  for  a 
whole  morning,  doubtless  in  the  enjoyment  of  those 
confidential  feminine  chats,  for  which  she  had  loncred 

7  O 

BO  much.     On  these  occasions  the  representatives  of 


THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE.  89 

the  ruder  sex  seldom  gained  admittance,  except  that 
L'Isle  would  now  and  then  drop  in  for  an  hour,  he 
being  too  great  a  favorite  with  Mrs.  Shortridge  to  be 
excluded;  arid,  for  a  time,  he  showed  no  disposition 
to  abuse  his  special  privilege. 

It  was  on  one  of  these  occasions  that  L'Isle  discovered 
that  with  all  his  assiduity  in  acquiring  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  peculiar  and  interesting  land  in 
which  he  had  now  spent  more  than  four  years — an 
assiduity,  on  the  result  of  which  he  much  prided  him 
self,  and  which  had  done  him  good  service  in  his  pro 
fession — there  was  still  one  important  point  that  he 
had  quite  overlooked.  He  knew  absolutely  nothing 
of  the  botany  of  this  region,  nor,  indeed,  of  any  other. 
He  made  this  discovery  suddenly  on  hearing  Lady 
Mabel  express  the  interest  she  felt  in  this'science,  and 
her  hope  of  finding  many  opportunities  of  pursuing  it 
in  a  country  whose  Flora  was  so  new^  to  her.  He  at 
once  began  to  supply  this  omission  by  borrowing 
from  her  half  a  dozen  books  on  the  subject.  In  two 
or  three  days  he  reappeared,  armed  with  a  huge 
bunch  of  wild  flowers  and  plants,  and  professed  to 
have  mastered  the  technicalities  sufficiently  to  enter 
at  once  on  the  practical  study  of  the  science  in  the 
field.  Unless  he  deceived  himself,  he  was  an  aston 
ishing  fast  learner.  Lady  Mabel  told  him  that  she 
had  heard  th&tpoeta  nascitur,  and  now  she  believed 
it  from  analogy ;  for  he  was  certainly  born  a  botanist. 
He  rebutted  the  sarcasm  by  showing  that  he  had  the 
terms  stamen,  pistil,  calix,  corolla,  capsule,  and  a  host 
4* 


90  THE   ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

of  others  at  the  tip  of  his  tongue ;  though,  possibly, 
had  he  been  called  upon  to  apply  each  in  its  proper 
place,  he  would  have  been  like  a  certain  student  of 
geometry  we  once  knew,  who,  by  aid  of  a  good 
memory  alone,  could  demonstrate  all  Euclid's  theo 
rems,  without  understanding  one  of  them,  provided 
the  diagrams  were  small  enough  to  be  hidden  by  his 
hand,  so  you  could  not  detect  him  in  pointing  to  the 
wrong  angle  and  line. 

January  was  gone,  and  the  earlier  of  the  two 
springs  that  mark  this  climate  was  opening  beauti 
fully.  L'Isle  displayed  temptingly  before  Lady  Ma 
bel's  eyes  the  wild  flowers  he  had  collected  during  a 
laborious  morning  spent  on  hill  and  plain,  in  wood 
and  field,  and  urged  her  to  lose  no  time  in  taking  the 
field  too,  and  making  collections  for  the  liwius  siccus 
of  which  she  talked  so  much,  but  toward  which  she 
had  yet  done  nothing ;  while  at  the  same  time,  she 
might,  without  trouble,  indoctrinate  him  in  the  mys 
teries  of  this  beautiful  branch  of  natural  history. 
Most  of  these  flowers  were  new  to  her  as  living  speci 
mens.  Her  botanical  enthusiasm  was  roused  at  the 
sight  of  them,  and  the  offer  of  a  pupil  added  to  her 
zeal.  When  we  know  a  little  of  any  thing,  it  is  very 
pleasant  to  be  applied  to  for  instruction  by  the  ignor 
ant,  as  it  enables  us  to  flatter  ourselves  that  we  know 
a  great  deal.  And  it  is  only  the  more  gratifying 
when  our  voluntary  pupil  is  otherwise  well  informed. 

It  was  at  once  arranged  that  the  party  should  take 
the  field  to-morrow,  Mrs.  Shortridge,  it  is  true,  had 


THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE.  91 

no  particular  taste  for  botany.  If  the  flowers  in  her 
bouquet  were  beautiful,  or  fragrant,  or  both,  she  did 
not  trouble  herself  about  their  history,  names,  class, 
order,  or  alliances ;  but  pleasant  company,  fresh  air, 
exercise,  and  new  scenes,  were  inducements  enough 
for  her. 


1)2  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 


CHAPTEE  YI. 

FOR  tliee  my  borders  nurse  the  fragrant  wreath, 
My  fountain  murmurs  and  my  zephyrs  breathe ; 
Slow  glides  the  painted  snail,  the  gilded  fly 
Smooths  his  fine  down  to  charm  thy  curious  eye ; 
On  twinkling  fins  my  scaly  nations  play, 
Or  wind,  with  sinuous  train,  their  trackless  way. 
My  plumy  pairs,  in  gay  embroidery  dressed, 
Form  with  ingenious  skill  the  pensile  nest ; 
To  Love's  sweet  notes  attune  the  listening  dell, 
And  Echo  sounds  her  soft  symphonious  shell. 

The  Botanic  Garden. 

BETIMES  the  next  morning  the  botanical  party  were 
in  the  saddle.  Mrs.  Shortridge  rode  a  mule,  the  es 
pecial  favorite  of  the  commissary,  for  her  sure  foot 
and  easy  gaits,  and  Lady  Mabel  was  mounted  on  her 
Andalusian,  on  whose  education  Lieut.  Goring  had 
bestowed  such  pains:  but  on  this  occasion  she  un 
gratefully  omitted  to  summon  her  equerry  to  attend 
her. 

Descending  the  granite  hill  of  Elvas,  they  rode 
westward  across  the  fertile  valley,  their  road  shut  in 
on  either  hand  by  luxuriant  evergreen  hedges ;  for 
here  the  dark  clay  soil  was  all  under  cultivation,  and 
carefully  laid  out  into  garden,  orchard,  or  field.  They 
passed  under  the  arches  of  the  great  aqueduct  that 


THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  93 

stretched  its  tortuous  length  across  the  undulating 
vale;  they  paused  to  admire  its  peculiarity  of  style 
and  structure,  and  the  greatness  of  the  work  ;  to  won 
der  at  the  crooked  course  it  ran,  and  yet  more  at  the 
little  use  the  people  of  Elvas  made  of  its  waters  for 
cleaning  purposes.  Then,  hastening  on,  they  found 
themselves,  at  the  end  of  some  five  miles,  in  an  open 
and  elevated  country.  Dismounting  here,  they  left 
the  horses  to  the  care  of  their  servants.  The  riding 
skirts  fell  to  the  ground,  the  ladies  stepped  forth  in 
walking  costume,  and  the  party  commenced  their 
ramble  after  flowers,  plants,  and  scenery,  directing  their 
steps  toward  the  high  grounds  to  the  northwest  of  Elvas. 
For  two  or  three  hours  they  got  on  famously. 
There  was  much  that  was  new,  curious,  and  beauti 
ful,  to  be  gazed  on  and  admired,  wondered  at,  and 
collected.  Lady  Mabel,  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a 
young  botanist  and  a  younger  traveler,  found  trea 
sures  at  every  step.  The  gentle  morning  breeze 
came  refreshingly  down  from  the  hills  before  them, 
laden  with  the  perfumes  of  opening  spring ;  the  rich 
aroma  of  the  gum-cistus,  the  fragrance  of  the  wild 
rosemary,  and  many  another  sweet-scented  plant,  per 
vading  the  air,  yet  not  oppressing  the  breath.  Mrs. 
Shortridge  expressed,  rather  strongly,  perhaps,  her 
delight  at  the  contrast  between  the  sweet-smelling 
country  and  the  unsavory  towns  of  the  Portuguese. 
She  quoted,  with  no  little  unction,  the  proverb  :  "  God 
made  the  country,  man  made  the  town,"  as  if  she  had 
never  fully  felt  its  force  till  now. 


94  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 


may  say  more  broadly,"  observed  L'Isle, 
"  that  God  makes  nature  and  man  defiles  it." 

"  I  am  truly  glad,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  that  these 
filthy  people  have  not  been  able  to  defile  their  whole 
land." 

Gradually  the  sunbeams  grew  hotter,  the  mountain 
breeze  became  a  sultry  breath,  the  ground  steeper  and 
more  rugged,  and  their  accumulating  floral  treasures 
more  and  more  cumbrous.  Lady  Mabel  seemed  to 
take  delight  in  adding  every  moment  to  the  load 
L'Isle  carried.  "  You  must  know,"  she  said,  "  that 
the  pupil  is  always  the  packhorse  on  these  occasions," 
and  she  insisted  on  Mrs.  Shortridge  bearing  her  share 
of  the  burden.  This  lady  at  first  had  talked  inces 
santly,  but  had  gradually  less  and  less  to  say,  and  at 
length  was  reduced  to  silence  from  sheer  want  of 
breath.  She  had  frequently  to  rest  for  a  few  minutes, 
and  was  coming  fast  to  the  conviction  that  rural  ex 
cursions  on  a  hot  day,  and  flower-hunting  over  rough 
ground,  were  less  pleasant  than  she  thought  at  first. 
The  hills,  bare  of  trees,  exposed  them  to  the  full  power 
of  the  sun,  yet  were  covered  with  a  growth  of  tall 
heaths,  mingled  with  patches  of  the  cistusladaniferus, 
which  covers  so  much  of  the  surface  of  the  slaty  hills 
of  this  region.  The  close  growth  and  gummy  exuda 
tions  of  this  plant  often  made  the  thickets  impene 
trable,  and  forced  the  party  to  many  a  long  circuit, 
in  their  efforts  to  reach  the  ridge  of  the  high  grounds. 
Mrs.  Shortridge  at  length  sat,  or  rather  sunk,  down 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  95 

upon  a  fragment  of  rock,  and  L'Isle  came  promptly  to 
her  aid. 

"  Colonel  L'Isle,"  said  she,  panting,  "  I  could  not 
take  another  step  up  hill  for  all  the  flowers  in  Port 
ugal." 

"  I  am  only  astonished  at  your  getting  so  far  up. 
You  are  not  used  to  climbing  mountains." 

"  When  Lady  Mabel  is  at  home  in  Scotland,"  said 
Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  I  suppose  she  walks  up  a  mountain 
every  morning,  to  get  an  appetite  for  breakfast.  So 
it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  follow  her.  But  here  she 
comes." 

Lady  Mabel  now  joined  them ;  and  L'Isle,  pointing 
out  a  belt  of  low  woods  that  wound  along  the  hollow 
ground  at  no  great  distance  below  them,  offered  Mrs. 
Shortridge  his  arm,  and  induced  her  to  make  an  effort 
to  reach  its  shelter. 

On  drawing  nearer  to  it,  they  found  themselves  in 
a  rough  path,  made  by  the  flocks  of  the  neighborhood, 
which  led  them  at  first  through  thickets  of  evergreen 
shrubs,  and  then  abruptly  down  the  rocky  and  almost 
precipitous  bank  of  that  stream,  which  a  mile  or  two 
below  reached  and  supplied  the  aqueduct  of  Elvas. 

Here  the  clear,  cool  waters  glided  over  a  rocky  bed, 
and  when  they  had  quenched  their  thirst,  the  ladies 
found  time  to  look  around.  On  either  hand  they  were 
shut  in  by  masses  of  rock,  which,  with  their  stratified 
and  fractured  lines,  resembled  walls,  the  rude  masonry 
of  giants.  A  projecting  crag  shut  out  from  sight  the 
stream  above  them ;  but,  attracted  by  the  sound  of 


96  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

falling  waters,  they  pushed  their  way  by  a  few  careful 
steps  round  it,  and  full  in  view,  and  close  at  hand, 
the  stream  fell  over  a  ledge  of  rock  in  a  beautiful  cas 
cade,  descending  at  once  twenty  feet  into  a  rock- 
girdled  pool,  which  in  the  course  of  ages  it  had  hol 
lowed  out  for  itself.  Here  the  water  ran  eddying 
round,  as  lingering  on  a  spot  it  loved,  and  loath  to  re 
sume  its  onward  course. 

The  perpetually  falling  waters  fanned  and  freshen 
ed  the  noonday  air  ;  while  overhead,  on  every  ledge 
that  gave  footing  to  their  roots,  the  myrtle  and  lauris- 
tinus,  mingled  with  the  oleander,  the  rhododendron 
ponticum,  and  other  evergreen  shrubs,  fed  by  the  fos 
tering  moisture  of  the  atmosphere,  almost  to  the  size 
of  trees,  spread  out  their  luxurious  branches  to  shut 
out  each  straggling  sunbeam,  and  deepen  the  shade  of 
the  narrow  dell  almost  to  twilight.  It  was  a  cavern, 
with  its  vaulted  roof  removed,  laying  it  gently  open 
to  the  light  of  day,  without  its  glare.  The  wood- 
pigeon  amidst  the  boughs  mingled  his  plaintive  notes 
with  the  murmur  of  the  falling  water,  and  the  speck 
led  trout  sported  in  the  pool — now  displaying  his 
glistening  scales  at  the  surface,  then  suddenly  and 
coyly  hiding  in  some  deep  and  dark  recess. 

Lady  Mabel  stood  in  silent,  motionless  delight, 
drinking  in  with  eye,  and  ear,  and  breath,  the  thrilling 
sensations  crowding  on  her  in  this  enchanted  spot. 
The  exclamation  in  which  Mrs.  Shortridge's  admiring 
surprise  found  vent,  jarred  on  her  young  companions' 
nerves,  and  seemed  to  break  a  mystic  spell. 


THE   ACTEESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  97 

The  ladies  were  still  wondering  at  the  chance  which 
had  led  them  to  this  spot,  so  cool,  shady  and  refresh 
ing  after  their  fatigues,  and  so  charming  in  its  happy 
grouping  of  wild,  picturesque,  and  romantic  features 
on  a  miniature  scale,  when  one  of  L'Isle's  servants 
stepped  from  behind  the  projecting  crag,  and  spread 
a  cloth  over  a  large  fragment  of  rock,  the  stratified 
surface  of  its  upper  side  making  no  inconvenient 
table.  Then,  bringing  forward  a  large  basket,  he  lost 
no  time  in  setting  forth  the  materials  of  a  light  but 
elegant  repast.  It  was  now  evident  to  the  ladies  that 
their  arrival  at  this  place  of  refuge  and  delight,  neigh 
boring  so  closely  the  bare  mountain-side,  was  not  so 
accidental  as  they  had  imagined,  and  they  united  in 
thanking  L'Isle  for  his  foresight,  and  lauding  his 
taste. 

Smaller  fragments  of  rock  were  placed  as  seats  for 
the  ladies,  and  though  they  had  not  all  the  conveni 
ences  of  a  well-ordered  dining-room,  they  only  enjoy 
ed  themselves  the  more  for  the  want  of  them,  while 
L'Isle  busied  himself  in  doing  the  hospitalities  of  wrhat 
Lady  Mabel  christened  "  Fairy  Dell."  The  induce 
ments  were  strong  to  remain  here  until  the  heat  of  the 
day  was  past.  Mrs.  Shortridge  had  had  her  fill  of 
heat  and  fatigue,  in  scrambling  over  the  rugged  moun 
tain.  Lady  Mabel  had  to  place  her  botanical  treasures 
with  their  stems  in  the  water,  to  revive  their  already 
withering  bloom  and  rear  their  drooping  heads,  before 
she  could  cull  from  their  unwieldy  bulk  the  specimens 
she  wished  to  preserve.  So,  after  their  meal,  the  ser- 


98  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

vant  was  sent  to  order  the  horses  up  to  the  nearest 
point  that  admitted  of  riding,  while  the  party  reposed 
themselves  in  the  shade  and  rested  from  their  labors, 
luxuriously  enjoying  the  scene,  sounds,  and  atmos 
phere  around  them. 

"  How  did  you  happen  to  find  this  lovely  spot  ?" 
asked  Mrs.  Shortridge. 

"The  truth  is,  I  yesterday  morning  went  over  the 
same  ground  we  have  gone  over  to-day,  and  a  good 
deal  more,"  answered  L'Isle.  "  Following  this  stream 
upward,  I  came  to  this  spot.  If  you  would  hunt  out 
the  peculiar  beauties  of  Portugal,  you  must  follow 
the  course  of  its  rivers  and  rivulets.  True  as  this  is 
of  many  countries,  it  is  most  true  of  this.  You  may 
observe,  Lady  Mabel,  that  almost  all  the  plants  you 
have  collected,  and  some  flowers  you  have  not  met 
with  to-day,  were  contained  in  the  collection  I  brought 
you  yesterday." 

"  I  see  that,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  But  to-day's  work 
is  not  therefore  the  less  satisfactory.  The  true  bot 
anist — and  I  suppose  you  have  found  out  that  I  make 
some  pretensions  to  that  character — is  not  content 
with  merely  having  flowers,  leaves,  and  parts  of  plants 
in  his  hortus  siccus,  or  even  abortive  specimens  in  his 
garden  and  his  hot-house  :  he  wants  to  see  the  whole 
plant  where  nature  placed  it,  and  study  its  character 
and  habits  there.  Who  is  satisfied  with  seeing  a 
Turk  in  London  ?  To  know  him  as  he  is,  we  look  for 
him  in  Constantinople,  or,  better  still,  in  some  province 
across  the  Bosphorus,  seated  on  his  own  carpet,  in  his 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  IJFE.  99 

own  shop,  or  in  his  coffee-house;  or,  better  still,  in 
his  harem,  with  his  customers,  or  neighbors,  or  his 
family 'of  wives  around  him.  How  much  does  the 
Esquimaux  in  London  resemble  the  Esquimaux  seated 
on  his  sledge,  shouting  at  his  team  of  dogs,  and  post 
ing  over  his  frozen  and  trackless  route,  with  a  horizon 
of  ice  around  him?  That  is  traveling,  and  this  is 
botany;  and  of  all  sciences  botany  best  suits  the 
traveler.  Every  variation  of  latitude,  climate,  or  sea 
son,  even  the  smallest  changes  of  soil,  elevation,  or 
exposure,  brings  him  to  a  new  region,  where  he  may 
make  new  acquaintances,  or  meet  old  friends.  Through 
a  love  for  botany  the  wilderness  blooms  to  us  like  a 
garden,  and  the  solitary  places  are  made  populous 
and  glad." 

Such  an  enthusiastic  botanist  must  become  an 
adept,"  said  L'Isle.  "  I  suppose  you  see  in  Portugal 
nothing  but  a  land  of  rare  and  varied  vegetation?" 

"  By  no  means.  I  am  not  wedded  to  one  pursuit, 
or  gifted  with  but  one  taste.  I  have  eyes  for  other 
things  beside  flowers,  and  shall  seize  every  opportu 
nity  of  seeing  and  knowing  something  of  the  people 
of  the  country." 

"  The  people,  the  real  people,"  said  L'Isle,  "  both 
of  this  country  and  of  Spain,  are  the  peasantry.  They 
are  chiefly  agricultural  countries,  and  the  rural,  or 
rather  village  population  forms  the  bulk  of  both  na 
tions,  and  the  best  part  of  them." 

"  It  is  the  peasantry,  the  dear,  natural,  picturesque 
peasantry  that  I  most  want  to  know." 


100  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

"  I  am  astonished  to  hear  you  say  so,  Lady  Mabel. 
The  ignorant,  filthy,  superstitions  creatures  !"  ex 
claimed  Mrs.  Shortridge,  with  an  air  of  infinite  dis 
gust.  "  Their  fidalgos,  as  they  call  their  gentry,  are 
bad  enough ;  but  as  for  the  common  people,  any 
familiarity  with  them,  sufficient  to  enable  you  to 
know  them,  would  be  too  disgusting.  They  may  be 
picturesque;  so  let  us  confine  them  to  their  place  in 
the  picture.  There  alone  it  is  that  they  do  not  bring 
their  savor  of  garlic  writh  them,"  and  she  here  buried 
her  pretty  little  turned-up  nose  in  a  bunch  of  Lady 
Mabel's  most  fragrant  flowers. 

"  Give  me  those  flowers,  Mrs.  Shortridge ;  you 
handle  them  so  rudely,  any  one  might  see  that  you 
are  no  botanist.  I  had  just  laid  them  aside  to  be 
pressed.  And  as  for  the  poor  Portuguese,  I  mean  to 
know  them  as  well  and  despise  them  as  little  as  I  can, 
'and  even  hope  to  learn  something  through  them,  if 
not  from  them.  Colonel  L'Isle,  I  have  mastered  al 
ready  all  the  ordinary  phrases  of  Portuguese  saluta 
tion  and  compliment,  which  you  know  are  much 
more  various  and  cumbrous  than  in  our  direct,  blunt 
English.  I  can  already  be  as  polite  as  the  most 
courteous  native,  and  that  is,  at  least,  the  beginning 
of  conversation.  I  can  ask,  too,  for  the  necessaries  of 
life,  and  inquire  my  road,  should  I  chance  to  lose  it. 
Let  a  woman  alone  for  getting  the  tongues.  I  hold 
frequent  conferences  with  Antonio  Lobo,  the  peasant 
who  keeps  our  orchard  at  head-quarters,  and  have 
daily  talks  with  our  Portuguese  chamber-maid,  and 


THE  ACTRESS  IN 

can  find  fault  with  her,  not  to  say  scold,  in  good  set 
terms.  The  awkward  creature  gives  me  abundant 
provocation  for  scolding,  and  for  not  forgetting  your 
advice  about  vociferation  and  gesticulation." 

"  You  do  well  to  remember  it,"  said  L'Isle ;  "  it 
will  help  you  on  famously.'4 

"  I  had  some  thoughts,"  she  continued,  "  in  order 
to  lose  no  opportunity  of  familiarizing  myself  with 
these  tongues,  of  saying  my  pra}7ers  in  Spanish  of  a 
morning,  and  Portuguese  at  night.  But  a  scruple  of 
conscience  deterred  me  from  attempting,  in  prayer,  to 
kill  two  birds  with  one  stone." 

"  I  think,"  said  L'Isle,  laughing,  "  that  your  scruple 
was  not  out  of  place." 

"Yet  you  know  that  Charles  V.  held  that  God 
should  never  be  addressed  but  in  Spanish." 

"  A  strange  doctrine  for  a  Papist,  who  wras  always 
praying  to  him  in  bad  Latin,"  said  L'Isle.  "  That 
opinion  savors  of  heresy,  and  deserved  the  notice  of 
the  Inquisition." 

"  At  all  events,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  it  is  best  not 
to  pray  to  him  in  bad  Spanish.  But  had  I  an  oppor 
tunity  of  traveling  through  Spain  and  Portugal,  and 
mixing  freely  with  the  people,  I  would  show  you  how 
quickly  both  tongues  could  be  mastered." 

"  I  see  little  chance  of  your  having  that  opportunity 
soon,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge. 

"I  am  afraid  I  must  give  up  all  hope  of  it.  The 
Santa  Ifermandad  no  longer  keep  the  roads  safe ; 
and  all  the  knights  of  Alcantara  and  Calatrava  to 


IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

boot,  of  these  degenerate  days,  would  afford  but  little 
protection  to  a  demoiselle  ewante." 

"I  will  offer  you  a  more  trusty  escort  than  that  of 
those  false  knights,"  said  L'Isle.  "  I  will  place  my 
self  and  regiment  at  your  command." 

"  That  is  truly  kind.  I  accept  the  offer ;  and  when 
I  set  out  on  my  travels,  will  send  you  on  with  it  a 
march  or  two  ahead,  to  clear  the  way,  and  make  all 
safe  for  us,  while  Mrs.  Shortridge  and  myself  will 
follow  at  ease  with  our  civic  retinue,  confident  that 
you  will  have  removed  every  danger  from  the  path!" 

"That  arrangement  would  make  the  journey  less 
pleasant  to  me  than  I  hoped  to  find  it." 

"  I  thought  your  object  was  our  safety,  not  your 
pleasure,"  said  Lady  Mabel. 

"  And  for  my  part,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  I  do 
not  care  to  travel  any  road  which  requires  a  regiment 
to  make  it  safe.  I  am  inquisitive  enough,  but  my 
fears  would  be  stronger  than  my  curiosity." 

"  Well,"  Lady  Mabel  said,  "  I  begin  to  despair  of 
ever  gratifying  my  longing  after  a  rambling  life.  It 
is  probably  all  for  the  best.  1  dare  say  I  would  have 
become  a  mere  vagabond.  But  I  had  embraced  a 
wide  field  in  my  contemplated  travels :  romantic 
Spain,  la  belle  France,  classic  Italy,  and  that  dreamy, 
misty  Faderland.  But  I  suppose  that  this  war  will 
last  always,  and  for  all  practical  purposes  I  may  as 
well  roll  up  the  map  of  Europe." 

"  Do  you  seriously  imagine  that  this  war  will  last 
forever?"  L'Isle  asked. 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  103 

"  Why  not  forever,  or,  at  least,  for  a  long  life  time  ? 
It  began  before  I  was  born,  and  may  continue  long 
after  I  am  dead.  I  have  no  recollection  of  a  state  of 
peace,  to  make  me  think  it  the  natural  condition  of 
nations." 

"  We  are  luckily  not  limited  to  our  own  experience 
in  drawing  our  conclusions.  Take  my  word  for  it, 
these  wars  are  drawing  to  a  close.  I  am  only  afraid 
that  they  will  end  before  I  am  a  Major-General." 

"  Why !  Do  you  expect  them  to  go  on  making  a 
series  of  blunders  at  headquarters,  like  that  in  the 
affair  of  that  unlucky  Spanish  village?" 

" A  series  of  blunders,"  L'Isle  answered,  "would 
be  quite  in  accordance  with  the  routine  at  the  war- 
office,  at  least.  So  my  expectations  are  not  so  unrea 
sonable  as  you  may  imagine." 

"  Then  let  them  blunder  on  as  fast  as  possible,  and 
make  you  a  major-general,  and  a  knight  of  the  bath, 
too,  if  it  please  the  king.  Many  of  your  family  were 
knighted  of  old,  and  Sir  Edward  L'Isle  will  sound  well 
enough  until  it  be  merged  in  the  peerage.  But  mean 
while  hasten  to  drive  these  French  out  of  Spain,  as 
the  czar  is  driving  them  out  of  Russia  ;  make  Spain 
too  hot,  as  Muscovy  is  too  cold  for  them,  that  I  may 
begin  my  travels  at  an  early  day." 

L'Isle,  out  of  countenance,  made  no  answer  to  this 
sally.  He  did  not  like  being  laughed  at,  especially 
by  Lady  Mabel. 

The  rays  of  the  declining  sun  now  touched  the  tops 
only  of  the  luxuriant  shrubbery,  that  overhung  this 


104  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

fairy  dell.  The  heat  of  the  day  was  passed,  and 
clambering  up  the  steep  path  to  the  more  level 
ground,  the  party  found  their  servants  at  hand  with 
the  horses,  and  rode  slowly  back  toward  Elvas. 

Near  the  foot  of  the  range  of  hills,  L'Isle  suddenly 
caught  sight  of  three  red  coats,  and  saying,  "  I  won 
der  what  those  fellows  are  doing  so  far  from  their 
quarters,"  he  turned  his  horse  out  of  the  path,  and 
rode  toward  them.  They  presently  saw  him  ap 
proaching,  and  much  to  Lady  Mabel's  surprise  and 
amusement,  in  which  last  feeling,  Mrs.  Shortridge 
joined,  instead  of  waiting  for  him  to  come  up,  they 
immediately  ran  off  different  ways,  seeking  conceal 
ment  from  the  thickets  and  hollows.  Selecting  one 
ot  them  for  the  chase,  L'Isle  pushed  his  horse  boldly 
over  the  rough  ground.  But  the  soldier,  finding  the 
pursuit  too  hot,  pulled  off  the  coat  which  made  him 
conspicuous,  and  folding  it  into  small  compass,  pushed 
through  an  overgrown  hedge  and  vanished.  L'Isle 
was  soon  at  fault,  and  had  to  give  up  the  chase.  He 
returned  somewhat  out  of  humor,  with  his  horse  some 
what  blown. 

"  You  are  a  bold  rider,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  but 
those  red  foxes  are  too  cunning  for  you.  What  made 
you  chase  them  ?  What  harm  were  they  doing  ?" 

"  None  that  I  know  of — and  had  they  let  me  speak 
to  them  I  would  have  suspected  none.  But  a  soldier 
is  always  at  mischief  when  he  avoids  being  seen  and 
identified  by  his  officer.  The  men  are  allowed  too 
much  liberty  in  rambling  over  the  country.  No 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  105 

wonder  we  have  so  many  complaints  lodged  against 
them." 

"  You  had  better  speak  to  papa  about  it,"  said  Lady 
Mabel,  in  simple  confidence  that  so  doing  would  set 
all  to  right. 

"  So  I  have,  more  than  once.  But  he  does  not 
agree  with  me,  and  is  opposed  to  what  he  calls  need 
less  restraint." 

"  Oh,  if  papa  thinks  so,  you  need  not  worry  your 
self  about  the  matter.  It  is  his  business,  and  doubt 
less  near  forty  year's  experience  has  taught  him  what 
amount  and  kinds  of  restraint  are  needed,  and  what  is 
merely  burthensome  and  oppressive.  I  have  heard 
him  discuss  these  matters  more  than  once." 

She  seemed  so  little  disposed  to  think  her  father 
might  be  mistaken,  that  L'Isle  did  not  venture  to  hint 
further  the  possibility  of  it.      In  that  father,  Lady 
Mabel  had  full  faith,  and  also  some  of  the  faith  of  in 
experience  in  the  beautiful  theory  which  teaches  that 
the  general  knows  best,  that  after  him  the  second  in 
command  approaches  nearest  to  infallibility,  and  so 
on  through  every  gradation  of  rank,  in  all  services, 
civil  and  military.     Had  she  made  an  exception  to 
the  application  of  this  rule,  it  would  have  been  in  her 
father's  case  ;  for  she  inclined  to  the  belief,  that  not 
withstanding  the  reputation  and  higher  rank  of  the 
military  men  who  stood  between  him  and  the  corn- 
mander-in-chief,  her  father  was,  after  Wellington,  the 
strongest   bulwark   against   the   torrent   of  invading 
French. 
5 


106  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  I  dare  say  that  many  of  these  poor  fellows,"  ob 
served  Ladj7  Mabel,  "  though  they  are  but  common 
soldiers,  enjoy  a  stroll  into  the  country  as  much  as  we 
do.  In  a  rude  way  they  admire  picturesque  beauty, 
and  observe  with  interest,  bird,  beast  and  plant  of  a 
country  so  different  from  their  own." 

"I  suspect,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "they  look 
chiefly  for  the  picturesque  spots  frequented  by  the 
pigs  and  poultry  of  the  peasants,  and  have  a  keen  eye 
to  detect  where  the  fruits  of  the  orchard  are  stored, 
and  where  the  wine  skins  hang." 

Lady  Mabel  was  indignant  at  this  suggestion.  "  It 
is  a  libel  on  the  British  army  in  general,  and  on  our 
brigade  in  particular.  They  are  soldiers,  not  rob 
bers  ;  and  the  king's  troops  are  too  well  cared  for  to 
be  driven  to  plunder  for  a  living." 

"  But  they  may  rob  from  love  of  mischief,  of  ex 
citement,  of  excess,  from  mere  idleness,  or  old  habits," 
said  L'Isle.  "  In  recruiting  we  adopt  a  physical,  and 
not  a  moral  standard.  A  sound  body,  five  feet  some 
inches  long,  is  all  we  look  for,  and  we  are  glad  to  get 
it.  A  great  many  rogues  fulfil  these  requisites,  and 
get  into  the  ranks ;  and  though  we  charge  ourselves 
with  the  moral  as  well  as  the  physical  training,  we 
are  not  always  successful.  The  sack  of  Badajoz,  and 
of  Ciudad  Eodrigo  bear  witness  to  this." 

They  reached  Elvas  without  further  incident,  and 
this  proved  but  the  first  of  many  excursions  made 
from  time  to  time  to  points  around  that  place.  Thus, 
altogether  with  a  view  to  her  profit  and  pleasure, 


THE   ACTEESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  107 

L'Isle  contrived  to  withdraw  Lady  Mabel  frequently 
from  the  military  throng  at  headquarters,  and,  with 
Mrs.  Shortridge's  aid,  appropriate  her  to  himself. 

By  this  adroit  manoeuvre,  L'Isle  did  not  gain  the 
good  will  of  some  of  his  brother  officers,  who  found 
their  share  of  her  ladyship's  society  much  curtailed. 
"What  cared  L'Isle  for  that  ?  No  more  than  colonels 
usually  care  for  the  inclinations  of  subalterns.  Many 
were  the  pleasant  morning  rambles  on  horseback  and 
on  foot  that  he  took  with  the  two  ladies ;  and  this 
mode  of  life  agreed  with  him  wonderfully  well. 
Before  long  he  recovered  strength  and  activity  to 
achieve  some  tall  climbing  after  rare  plants  among 
the  rocks  and  crags,  which  would  have  gained  him 
great  credit  in  an  escalade.  Occasionally  too,  while 
Mrs.  Shortridge  prudently,  or  indolently,  kept  the 
more  level  ground  he  would  contrive  to  lead  Lady 
Mabel  to  some  elevated  and  perilous  spot — and  she 
boldly  putting  herself  into  difficulties,  and  not  always 
seeing  the  way  out  of  them,  had  to  rely  on  his  aid, 
and  the  supporting  arm  he  delighted  to  afford  her. 
And  they  gave  to  love  for  botany  the  credit  of  it  all. 

The  zeal  with  which  Colonel  L'Isle  followed  up  this 
new  study,  did  not  escape  Colonel  Bradshawe's  watch 
ful  eye.  So  his  satirical  tongue  had  many  a  comment 
to  make  on  the  change  in  L'Isle's  habits.  To  his  own 
cronies  Bradshawe  dubbed  him  the  bushman,  not  as 
being  neighbor  to  the  Hottentots,  but  from  his  often 
riding  into  Elvas,  equipped  like  one  of  Malcolm's 
soldiers,  marching  from  Birnam  wood  to  Dunsinane. 


108  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

"  Oar  would  be  Achilles,  laden  witli  that  huge  bunch 
of  materials  for  Lady  Mabel's  hortus  siecus,  thinks 
himself  like  Hercules  with  the  distaff.  To  me  he 
looks  like  a  florist's  apprentice,  selling  his  flowers  at 
a  penny  a  bunch.  It  must  be  confessed  though  that 
the  fellow  has  talents  and  tact.  How  completely  has 
he  contrived  to  shut  out  rivalry,  by  availing  himself 
of  my  lady's  weakness  in  imagining  herself  a  great 
botanist,  and  providing  her  with  a  zealous  and  admir 
ing  pupil  in  his  own  person.  And  then  to  use  so 
adroitly  his  accommodating  temporary  female  friend 
in  decoying  his  lawful  love  into  the  trap.  She  is 
certainly  the  finest  girl  of  her  day,  and  acres  are  good 
things,  even  though  they  be  Scotch  acres ;  for  in  the 
same  proportion  they  are  broader  as  well  as  more 
barren  than  English  acres.  The  whole  thing  is  ad 
mirable.  It  is  a  combination  of  means  to  a  combina 
tion  of  ends,  evincing  genius  of  high  order.  Were  I 
at  the  head  of  the  war  office,  I  would  promote  him  on 
the  spot." 

"Poor  Shortridge!"  sighed  Colonel  Bradshawe, 
dropping  at  once  from  a  tone  of  the  highest  admira 
tion  to  one  of  deep  commiseration,  "  can  he  possibly 
be  blind  to  what  is  going  on?  And  what  is  Lord 
Strathern  dreaming  of!  What  a  pity  one  cannot  in 
terfere  in  these  little  matters,  and  put  our  friends  on 
their  guard !  But  Shortridge  is  so  obtuse,  and  my 
Lord  so  self-willed  and  wrong-headed,  that  it  would 
only  make  matters  worse.  Indeed,  it  is  too  late  to 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  109 

help  Shortridge,  poor  fellow !  and  we  must  console 
ourselves  with  the  wise  conclusion  of  the  great  bard: 

"Ho  that  is  robbed,  not  wanting  what  is  stolen, 
Let  him  not  know  it,  and  he's  not  robbed  at  all." 


110  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Whanne  that  April  with  his  shourea  sote 
The  droughte  of  March  hath  perced  to  the  rote, 
And  bathed  every  veine  in  swiche  licour, 
Of  which  vertue  engendred  is  the  flour ; 
Whan  Zephirus  eke  with  his  sote  brethe, 
Enspired  hath  in  every  holt  and  hethe 
The  tendre  croppes,  and  the  yonge  sonne 
Hath  in  the  Ram  his  half  cours  yronne, 
And  smalo  foules  maken  melodie 
That  sleepen  all  night  with  open  eye, 
So  pricketh  hem  nature  in  hir  corages ; 
Than  longen  folk  to  gon  on  pilgrimages, 
And  palmeres  for  to  seken  strange  strondes, 
To  serve  halwes  couthe  in  sondry  londes. 

Prologue  to  Canterbury    Tales. 

"  WHY,  Ma  belle,  you  are  an  indomitable  excur 
sionist  !"  exclaimed  Lord  Strathern  one  evening,  when 
the  botanical  party,  after  a  hard  day's  work  in  plea 
sure-hunting,  returned  to  a  late  dinner  at  headquart 
ers.  "  I  wonder  Mrs.  Shortridge  is  not  worn  out  in 
accompanying  you." 

"  I  take  it  easily,  my  Lord,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge, 
"keeping  the  broadest  and  smoothest  path  I  can  find, 
like  the  wicked  in  Scripture,  while  Lady  Mabel  ram- 
bks  about  on  either  hand,  having,  I  think,  a  liking 
for  rough  ground.  Like  the  mountain  goat,  if  she 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  Ill 

will  forgive  tlie  comparison,  she  prefers  the  crag  to 
the  plain.  If  your  Lordship  saw  the  hardihood  with 
which  she  puts  herself  into  all  sorts  of  perilous  situa 
tions,  until,  at  times,  it  needs  all  the  aid  Colonel  L'lsle 
can  give  to  extricate  her,  I  fear  you  would  put  a  stop 
to  our  jaunts." 

u  As  yet  my  wardrobe  has  been  the  only  sufferer," 
said  Lady  Mabel.  "I  have  just  taken  off  the  third 
dress  I  have  damaged  past  remedy." 

"  If  you  had  been  a  boy,  Ma  belle,  instead  of  a  girl, 
you  would  have  made  a  rare  sportsman !" 

"  A  sportsman,  indeed !  By  this  time  I  would  have 
held  a  commission  in  his  Majesty's  service.  Why, 
papa,  I  am  a  year  older  than  ensign  Wade,  have  al 
most  as  much  beard  to  my  chin,  and,  but  for  rny  sex, 
would  make  quite  as  good  a  soldier." 

"  I  arn  content,  however,  to  have  yon  as  you  are, 
and  would  not  exchange  you  for  a  regiment  of  the 
best  boys  in  England." 

"  Better  one  daughter  than  a  thousand  sons,"  said 
Lady  Mabel,  "  for  they  would  make  a  cumbersome 
family." 

•  "You  are  a  cumbersome  baggage  yourself,"  said 
Lord  Strathern.  "  Just  see  the  endless  litter  of 
flowers,  leaves,  yea,  branches  of  trees,  with  which 
you  cumber  the  house.  We  will  have  to  apply  to 
the  quartermaster  for  the  use  of  a  returning  supply^ 
train  to  convey  your  botanical  treasures  to  Lisbon, 
and  we  will  have  to  charter  a  vessel  there  to  carry 
them  home.  Dr.  Graham's  study  will  not  contain  all 


112  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

yon  collect  for  him.  You  must  have  exhausted  the 
n  ei  £jhb  orh  oo  d . '  * 

"In  one  sense  I  am  afraid  we  have.  Colonel  L'Isle 
tells  me  that  we  have  explored  almost  every  part  of 
the  country  immediately  around  Elvas." 

"  I  am  sorry  we  are  tied  clown  to  this  one  spot," 
said  her  father.  "  As  you  have  never  been  from  home 
before,  I  would  wish  you  to  see  as  much  as  possible 
of  this  country.*  But  I  must  stick  close  to  the  brigade, 
at  hand  for  orders  at  any  moment." 

"I  must  be  content,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "And, 
after  all,  it  is  better  to  see  one  place  thoroughly,  than 
to  take  a  hasty  glance  at  a  dozen  in  the  style  of  com 
mon-place  travelers." 

"  I  confess  I  am  but  a  common-place  traveler,"  said 
Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  and  would  like  to  see  a  new  place 
every  day ;  though  I  have,  I  own,  found  more  variety 
and  amusement  in  exploring  the  neighborhood  than  I 
expected." 

"  You  will  shortly  have  an  opportunity,  Mrs.  Short- 
ridgfy,"  said  L'Isle,  "  of  visiting  a  very  striking  place 
by  merely  accompanying  the  commissary.  Lie  thinks 
of  going  to  Evora  to  purchase  cattle  and  grain  for 
the  troops,  and  Evora  is  well  worth  seeing,  /is  well  as 
the  country  you  pass  through  in  going  thither." 

"Ah!  I  would  like  the  jaunt  very  much.  But  I 
tHd  not  know  that  the  commissary  was  going  thither." 

"He  is  going,  and  you  might  accompany  him," 
said  L'Isle.  "  You  could  not  indeed  make  the  journey 
in  your  coach  if  you  had  one,  for  off  this  high  road, 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  113 

from  Lisbon  to  Madrid,  there  is  scarcely  a  carriage- 
road  in  the  country.  But  you  are  now  quite  at  home, 
on  the  back  of  your  sure-footed  mule." 

The  truth  was,  L'Isle  had  himself  suggested  to  the 
commissary  that  the  country'  south  of  Evora  was  rich 
and  productive,  and  that  prices  had  not  been  raised 
there  by  the  vicinity  of  the  troops,  and  the  demands 
of  their  market.  At  the  same  time  he  gave  Short- 
ridge  to  understand  that  he  wished  to  get  up  a  party 
to  visit  Evora,  and  Lady  Mabel  must  be  included 
in  it. 

"  I  will  ask  the  commissary  to-night  when  he  is  go 
ing,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge ;  "  and  to  take  me  with 
him,  if  he  can." 

Lady  Mabel  had  listened  with  silent  interest  so  far ; 
but  here  she  broke  in  upon  their  conference,  just  as 
L'Isle  desired. 

"Why,  Mrs.  Shortridge,"  she  exclaimed,  with  a 
well-feigned  air  of  one  deeply  wronged,  "  do  you  mean 
to  desert  me?  After  partaking  of  my  pleasant  ex 
cursions  and  botanical  instructions  (but  I  find  you  a 
very  dull  scholar),  do  you  mean  to  go  traveling  about 
in  search  of  adventures  and  rare  sights,  without  even 
asking  me  to  be  of  the  party  ? — I,  who  am  afflicted 
with  a  mania  for  traveling  which  can  only  be  cured 
by  being  gratified?  But  such  is  woman's  friendship." 
"  My  dear  Lady  Mabel,  how  do  you  know  that  my 
lord  would  trust  you  so  far  under  my  care? 

"So  far!"  said   Lady  Mabel,  scornfully.     "Did  1 
not  come  from  Scotland  hither,  braving  the  perils  of 
5* 


114  THE   ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

the  sea  and  of  the  wilderness,  the  stormy  Bay  of 
Biscay,  and  the  desert  of  Alemtejo,  teeming  with 
robbers  and  wild  beasts  ?  With  no  guardian  but  old 
Moodie,  whose  chief  merit  is  that  of  being  a  sus 
picious  old  Scot,  with  the  fidelity  and  snappishness  of 
a  terrier." 

"I  am  surprised  now  that  I  sent  for  you,"  said 
Lord  Strathern,  "  considering  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  your  coming.  But  you  are  here,  and  I.  thank 
God  for  it.  But  you  would  find  it  a  long,  rough  ride 
to  Evora,  and  the  weather  grows  hotter  every  day." 

"Hough  roads  are  nothing  to  us  who  travel  on 
horseback,"  Lady  Mabel  said,  with  the  air  of  a  cava 
lier  ;  "  and  as  for  the  distance,  it  is  not  much  over  a 
morning's  ride.  Colonel  L'Isle,  could  not  you  ride 
there  in  a  morning?" 

"  With  relays  of  good  horses,  and  good  luck  to  my 
neck,"  said  L'Isle,  with  a  laugh.  "  It  is  about  fifty 
miles ;  but  one  need  not  go  the  whole  way  in  one 
day." 

"  Of  course  not,"  she  answered.  "  We  wrill  not 
ride  post,  but  take  our  ease,  and  see  the  country  at 
our  leisure." 

"I  see  you  intend  going,  ma  belle"  said  Lord 
Strathern;  "so  I  may  as  well  give  my  consent  with 
a  good  grace.  But  is  the  commissary  able  and  will 
ing  to  take  charge  of  more  than  one  lady,  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge,  who  has  a  will  of  her  own  ?  I  trust,  too,  L'Isle, 
that  after  giving  these  ladies  a  taste  for  rambling,  you 
do  not  mean  to  desert  them  now.  They  may  need 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  115 

your  escort.  Small  parties  are  never  safe  traveling 
about  this  country.  Our  friends  just  hereabouts,  es 
pecially,  (I  am  sorry  to-say  it  of  them),  are  apt  to  fall 
in  love  with  other  men's  goods,  and  have  a  strong 
throat-cutting  propensity." 

"  Oh,  there  is  nothing  to  fear,  papa,"  said  Lady 
Mabel.  "  Our  troops  occupy  the  country,  and,  if 
necessary,  we  will  take  Colonel  L'Isle  with  us  for 
further  protection.  Pray,  Colonel  L'Isle,  how  many 
robbers  could  you  defend  us  from  ?" 

"  I  would  try  to  defend  you  against  a  hundred." 

"  But  pray,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  carry  at  least 
two  servants,  well  armed." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Lady  Mabel ;  "  we  will  do  the 
thing  effectually.  They  shall  carry  no  baggage,  but 
stuff  their  valises  full  of  loaded  pistols,  as  antidotes  to 
Mrs.  Shortridge's  fears." 

"  I  will  join  the  party  with  pleasure,  my  lord.  I 
suppose  I  can  be  spared  from  this  post  for  a  few 
days  ?"  said  L'Isle,  well  pleased  to  be  urged  to  join  in 
an  excursion,  secretly  and  ingeniously  contrived  by 
himself. 

The  ladies,  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  a  pleasant 
journey  and  new  scenes,  were  at  once  full  of  plans 
and  preparations  for  their  outfit  on  the  road.  Nor 
did  they  reckon  without  their  host;  for  the  commis 
sary  assented  to  their  joining  him  the  moment  it  was 
proposed.  Colonel  Bradshawe  might  amuse  himself 
and  his  cronies  by  expressing  astonishment  at  his 
blindness  or  complaisance,  but  Shortridge  had  good 


116  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

reasons  for  what  he  did.  Since  he  had  made  money, 
"both  his  wife  and  himself  felt  a  strong  craving  for  so 
cial  promotion ;  and  Colonel  L'Isle  and  Lady  Mabel 
were  just  the  persons  to  lend  them  a  helping  hand  in 
their  efforts  to  ascend  the  social  ladder.  But  with 
Shortridge  this  wTas  just  now  but  a  secondary  matter. 
The  commander-in-chief  had  been  lately  giving  a 
rough  overhauling  to  the  officials  of  the  commissariat. 
Their  numberless  peculations,  and  short-comings  at 
critical  moments,  had  exasperated  him  into  a  convic 
tion  that  they  were  necessary  evils,  and  rascals  to  a 
man  by  right  of  office,  and  only  to  be  dealt  with  as 
such.  And  Sir  Rowland  Hill,  to  whose  division  the 
brigade  belonged,  had  learned  this,  among  other  les 
sons,  from  his  great  commander.  Now  L'Isle  was 
known  to  have  the  ear  of  Sir  Rowland,  and  the  com 
missary  was  of  opinion  that,  while  Lord  Strathern 
commanded  the  brigade,  Lady  Mabel  commanded 
him,  so  that  the  good  opinion  and  good  word  of  those 
parties  might  avail  him  much  on  certain  emergen 
cies.  If  a  friend  at  court  be  a  good  thing,  two  are 
still  better ;  so  he  was  all  compliance,  and  let  the 
ladies  fix  the  next  day  but  one  for  the  journey. 

Early  on  that  morning,  accordingly,  the  party  as 
sembled  at  headquarters,  and  their  horses  and  mules 
crowded  the  little  court  of  the  monastic  buildin^ 

B 

L'Isle  had  provided  an  arriero  for  a  guide,  with  his 
three  mules  for  their  baggage.  The  kind,  and  quan 
tity,  too,  of  provision  he  had  prepared  for  their  jour 
ney,  was  a  reflection  on  the  resources  and  hospitality 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  117 

of  the  country  they  were  to  pass  through.  Nor  had 
the  commissary  been  negligent  of  creature  comforts. 

Lord  Strathern  placed  his  daughter  in  the  saddle. 
"  Remember,  ma  belle,  your  blood  is  not  used  to  this 
feverous  climate,  and  even  your  pretty  neck  may  get 
broken  in  a  mountain  path. 

Lady  Mabel  listened  with  dutiful  attention  to  the 
warnings  of  experience  against  the  dangers  from  the 
noonday  sun,  the  chilly  night  wind,  and  fast  riding 
over  rough  paths ;  but,  full  of  anticipated  pleasure, 
she  perhaps  did  not  remember  them  an  hour  after. 

"  You  are  much  encumbered  with  baggage,  L'Isle," 
said  Lord  Strathern  ;  "  and  your  party  larger  than  I 
expected." 

"  My  party,  papa,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  with  an  air 
of  asserting  her  position.  "  1  like  to  travel  in  good 
style.  This  is  my  retinue,  and  a  very  complete  one  it 
is.  Colonel  L'Isle  is  my  dragoman,  and  interprets  for 
me  among  the  barbarous  natives.  The  servants,  armed 
to  the  teeth,  are  my  guards.  The  commissary  is  my 
purveyor,  and "  she  added,  glancing  at  his  rotund 
figure,  "  I  have  no  fear  of  starving  in  his  company. 
Mrs.  Shortridge,  though  she  does  not  look  sour  enough 
for  the  office,  is  my  duenna,  punctilious  and  watch 
ful — "  Here  she  suddenly  broke  off  her  discourse, 
and  fixed  her  eyes  on  old  Moodie,  who  now  entered 
the  court,  leading  in  a  powerful  horse  of  her  father's, 
with  a  pair  of  huge  holsters  at  the  saddle-bow.  Being 
a  small  and  an  old  man,  he  climbed  stiffly  and  with 
some  difficulty  into  the  saddle ;  but,  when  seated 


118  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

there,  his  earnest  face  and  resolute  air  made  him  look 
a  hero  of  the  covenant  quitting  the  conventicle  for 
the  battle-field. 

After  watching  him  in  silent  surprise,  she  exclaim 
ed  :  "  Why,  Moodie,  are  you  going  too  ?  I  did  not 
know  that  you  were  so  fond  of  traveling,  and  so  in 
quisitive  about  these  idolatrous  foreigners  and  their 
country." 

"  I  would  gladly  turn  my  back  on  them  and  their 
country  ;  but  my  duty  forbids  it." 

"  But  how  will  papa  do  without  you  ?" 

"  Better  than  your  ladyship  can." 

"But  you  have  made  yourself  so  useful,  indeed 
necessary,  as  steward  in  this  house,  which  needed  one 
sadly." 

"  Perhaps,  so,  my  lady.  But  I  know  wrhere  I  am 
most  needed.  I  do  not  mean  to  lose  sight  of  you 
for  twenty-four  hours,  until  you  are  safe  at  Craiggy- 
side." 

Lady  Mabel  looked  exceedingly  provoked  and  much 
out  of  countenance  at  the  surveillance  he  assumed  over 
her.  Did  he  think  her  still  a  child  now,  when  she 
felt  herself  a  woman  ?  It  was  well  she  did  not  ask 
him  that  question,  for  Moodie  thought  this  the  time 
when  she  needed  most  watching.  She  was  about  to 
forbid  his  following  her,  but  her  father,  laughing  at 
her  discomfiture,  said,  "  Moodie  told  me  last  night  that 
he  would  have  to  be  of  the  party.  He  got  his  general 
orders  before  he  left  Scotland,  and  in  this  case  my 
sister  is  commander-iii-chief." 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  119 

The  party  was  now  ready,  and  rode  out  of  the  court, 
L'Isle  putting  himself  by  Lady  Mabel's  side. 

"  What  special  part  does  this  old  man  fill  in  your 
father's  household?" 

"  Properly,  none ;  though  he  has  made  himself  stew 
ard  by  an  act  of  usurpation.  Just  at  this  time  he  be 
longs  to  my  household,"  said  she,  with  mock  dignity. 
"  And,  when  at  home,  he  is  a  very  important  person  at 
Craiggyside,  a  place  unknown  to  your  geography,  but  a 
very  important  and  delightful  place,  notwithstanding." 

"  I  blush  to  acknowledge  my  ignorance.  Pray  put 
an  end  to  it  by  telling  me  what  sort  of  a  place  Craiggy 
side  is." 

"  It  is  a  villa  and  farm,  the  home  of  my  aunt,  with 
whom  I  live.  There  old  Moodie  fulfills  his  round  of 
duties.  He  manages  the  farm,  sells  the  crops,  tasks 
the  ploughmen,  overlooks  the  shepherd,  scolds  the 
dairymaid,  bullies  the  servants,  and  regulates  all  that 
come  near  him.  He  can  be  charged  with  no  short 
comings,  for  he  overdoes  all  he  undertakes.  Xot  con 
tent  with  controlling  our  secular  concerns,  he  would 
gladly  take  upon  him  the  cure  of  souls.  But  there  he 
meets  with  stubborn  resistance." 

"  He  has  a  varied  sphere  of  duty,"  said  L'Isle,  "  and 
seems  accustomed  to  have  his  own  way.  He  does  not 
wait  for  your  orders,  nor,  indeed,  seems  to  be  very 
amenable  to  them.  In  short,  notwithstanding  the 
official  title  you  have  bestowed  on  Mrs.  Shortridge,  it 
is  plain  to  me  that  the  real  duenna  does  not  wear  pet 
ticoats." 


120  THE  ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  His  presumption  is  equal  to  any  thing,"  said  Lady 
Mabel,  provoked  at  the  suggestion.  "  But  I  will  make 
him  repent  it  shortly.  He  shall  long  remember  this 
journey.  But  enough  of  him  for  the  present.  Let  us 
make  the  most  of  this  delightful  morning  hour.  It 
will  be  hot  enough  by  noon.  I  am  now  in  the  travel 
er's  happiest  mood,  enjoying  at  once  the  feeling  of  ad 
venture  with  the  sense  of  security,  which,  you  must 
admit,  is  a  rare  and  difficult  combination  of  emotions." 

L'Isle  was  quite  as  well  pleased  as  Lady  Mabel  with 
the  prospect  before  him.  He  had,  at  Lord  Strathern's 
request,  assented  to  join  a  party,  which  he  alone  had 
gotten  up,  solely  that  he  might  put  himself  in  the  re 
lation  of  companion  and  protector  to  Lady  Mabel. 
The  commissary  and  his  wife  were  convenient  screens, 
not  at  all  in  his  way.  Whether  the  part  of  guide, 
philosopher,  and  friend  to  such  a  pupil  suited  a  man 
of  four-and-twenty,  he  was  yet  to  learn.  No  doubts 
of  this  kind  troubled  him,  however,  as  the  arriero  led 
his  mules  down  the  hill,  and  the  party  followed  the 
music  of  their  bells,  all  in  high  spirits,  except  old 
Moodie,  who,  though  a  volunteer,  continued  to  be  a 
grumbler. 

Two  hours'  riding  carried  them  beyond  the  point  to 
which  the  botanical  excursions  had  led  them  in  that 
direction.  They  were  leaving  the  valley,  and  entering 
on  the  high  and  broken  uplands,  when  Lady  Mabel 
spied  a  low  cross  by  the  roadside.  Though  rudely 
formed,  it  was  of  stone,  and  not  of  wood,  like  most  of 
those  in  such  places,  and  a  short  inscription  was  carv- 


THE  ACTEESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  121 

ed  upon  it.  Faintly  cut,  badly  spelt,  and  with  many 
abbreviations,  it  was  an  enigma  to  her  scholarship, 
and  L'Isle  had  to  decipher  it  for  her  :  "  Andreo  Sav- 
aro  was  murdered  here.  Pray  for  his  soul."  "  It  is 
only  one  of  those  monumental  crosses,"  said  he,  "  of 
which  you  see  so  many  along  the  roads  throughout 
the  peninsula." 

"Do  they  always  add  murder  to  robbery  here  ?" 
she  asked. 

"  Too  often,  but  not  always,"  answered  L'Isle.  "  'Nor 
is  robbery  the  only  motive  which  leads  to  the  taking 
of  life.  A  solitary  cross  by  the  roadside  is  usually  in 
memory  of  the  victim  of  robbers,  or,  occasionally,  of 
fatal  accident ;  but  when  you  see  crosses,  two  or  three 
together,  in  villages  or  towns,  or  their  immediate 
neighborhood,  they  oftener  mark  the  scene  of  some 
deed  of  bloodshed  prompted  by  revenge,  not  lucre." 

"They  are  certainly  very  numerous,"  said  she,  "and 
form  a  shocking  feature  on  the  face  of  the  country,  in 
dicating  a  dreadful  state  of  society." 

"  I  wonder  these  people  persist  in  putting  them 
up,"  said  the  commissary,  "  for  they  are  of  no  manner 
of  use." 

"  Use !"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  what  is  the  use  of  a 
tomb-stone  ?" 

"  If  you  mean  real  use,  I  am  sure  I  don't  know," 
said  Shortridge. 

"I  see  that  you  are  a  thorough  utilitarian,"  she  re 
plied;  "and  since  these  people  will  continue  to  com 
mit  murder  on  the  high  road,  I  suppose  you  would 


122  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

have  them  do  it  at  regular  intervals,  so  that  by  aid  of 
these  monumental  crosses  we  might  measure  our 
journey  by  murders  instead  of  miles.  Come,  Mrs. 
Shortridge,  road-side  murder  is  rife  here,  so  the  less 
we  loiter  on  our  way  the  better." 

This  remark  had  the  effect  mischievously  intended. 
Mrs.  Shortridge,  turning  somewhat  pale,  and  twitch 
ing  her  bridle  convulsively,  urged  her  mule  close  up 
to  the  party. 

They  went  on  some  miles  across  a  desolate  country, 
covered  with  heath,  rosemary,  and  gum  cistus,  more 
fragrant  than  the  many  rank  bulbous  plants,  which 
disputed  possession  of  the  soil  with  them.  The  road 
was  rough  with  slaty  rock,  the  air  became  beaming 
hot,  and  L'Isle  told  the  guide  to  lead  them  to  some 
place  of  shelter  from  the  noon-day  sun.  Before  them 
lay  a  high  open  plain,  on  which  a  large  flock  of  sheep, 
dusky,  and  many  of  them  black  in  hue,  were  feeding, 
and  filling  the  air  with  their  bleatings.  On  the  right, 
beyond  the  plain,  there  was  a  grove  of  the  Quercus 
Ilex,  rugged,  stunted,  thirsty-looking  trees,  yet  whose 
evergreen  boughs  gave  promise  of  at  least  a  partial 
shade.  The  arriero  led  the  party  toward  it,  but  just 
as  they  approached  the  wood,  several  large  and  savage 
dogs  flew  out,  and  charged  them  with  a  ferocity  that 
might  have  cost  a  solitary  traveler  his  life.  They 
were  busy  repelling  this  assault,  when  flve  or  six  men 
showed  themselves  from  behind  a  thicket.  Dark, 
sunburnt,  smoke-dried  fellows  they  were,  with  shaggy 
hair,  and  rudely  clad,  each  man  having  a  sheep-skin 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  123 

thrown  over  his  shoulders,  and  most  of  them  grasping 
long,  rusty  guns  in  their  hands. 

Mrs.  Sliortridge  called  out  "  robbers !"  and  entreated 
L'Isle  to  tire  upon  them.  The  commissary,  too,  but 
more  coolly,  pronounced  them  to  be  robbers,  "  when 
they  find  an  opportunity  to  follow  that  calling  ;  but, 
just  now,  they  are  watching  their  flocks." 

"  Shepherds  !  those  ruffians,  shepherds !"  exclaimed 
Lady  Mabel ;  "  O  !  shades  of  Theocritus  and  Virgil, 
what  a  satire  upon  pastoral  poetry !" 

Shepherds,  however,  they  were,  who  called  off  their 
dogs,  after  reconnoitring  the  party.  The  arriero 
inquired  of  them  where  water  was  to  be  found,  and 
they  pointed  to  a  little  hollow  in  the  wood,  an  hun 
dred  yards  off.  He  was  leading  the  party  that  way, 
when  L'Isle  said  to  the  ladies,  "  let  us  have  a  talk  with 
these  fellows." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  and  she  turned  her 
horse's  head  toward  them. 

"  Certainly  not,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  and  she 
reined  her  mule  back,  "  I  am  too  near  them  already. 
I  will  not  dare  to  take  my  siesta  with  these  fellows  in 
the  neighborhood,  for  fear  of  waking  up  in  another 
place  than  Portugal."  And  she  followed  her  melting 
husband,  who  was  hastening  out  of  the  sun,  in  the 
hope  of  regaining  his  solidity  in  the  shade  at  hand. 

L'Isle  and  Lady  Mabel  rode  close  up  to  the  shep 
herds.  They  had  been  resting  under  an  oak,  and  the 
cooking  utensils,  some  baggage,  and  two  asses  near  at 
hand,  looked  as  if  they,  too,  were  travelers.  L'Isle 


124  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

addressed  a  tall,  dark  man,  of  middle  age,  wlio  seemed 
to  be  the  head  of  the  party.  As  soon  as  these  men 
heard  their  own  language  from  the  mouth  of  a  for 
eigner,  so  fluently  and  correctly  spoken,  their  faces 
lightened  np  with  interest  and  intelligence.  They 
gave  ready  answers  to  all  inquiries,  and  L'Isle  had  to 
reply  in  turn  to  many  a  question  as  to  himself,  his 
companions,  and  the  news  of  the  war.  The  chief 
shepherd  was  particularly  anxious  to  know  the  condi 
tion  of  the  province  of  Beira,  and  what  were  the 
chances  of  a  visit  there  from  the  French  during  the 
coming  summer.  His  flock,  he  said,  was  one  of  those 
which  winter  on  the  heaths  and  plains  of  Alemtejo, 
and,  to  avoid  the  droughts  which  make  them  a  desert 
in  summer,  are  driven  across  the  Tagus  in  the  spring, 
into  the  Serra  Estrdla,  when  the  snow  has  melted, 
and  vegetation  again  covers  that  range  of  mountains. 

One  of  his  companions  offered  for  sale  two  rabbits 
and  some  partridges  he  had  shot  on  the  moors,  which 
L'Isle  bought,  like  a  provident  traveler,  who  does  not 
rely  too  much  on  the  larder  of  the  next  inn. 

Lady  Mabel,  with  attentive  ear,  had  gathered  the 
sense  of  much  that  had  been  said,  and  L'Isle  had  in 
terpreted  what  puzzled  her.  But  being  a  woman,  she 
was  unwilling  to  remain  a  mere  listener  ;  so,  elabor 
ately  framing  a  question  in  Portuguese,  she  addressed 
the  head  shepherd,  seeking  to  know  how  far  the 
migrations  of  these  flocks  resembled  the  Spanish 
mesta.  The  dark  man  gazed  at  her  admiringly  and 
attentively,  repeating  some  of  her  words,  but  unable 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  125 

to  make  out  her  meaning.  She  bit  her  lip,  while  he, 
shaking  his  head,  turned  to  L'Isle,  and  said,  "  what 
a  pity  so  lovely  a  lady  cannot  speak  Portuguese.  She 
looks  just  like  our  i  Lady  of  Nazareth,'  at  Pederneira, 
only  her  hair  is  brighter,  and  her  eyes  are  bine." 

u  What  says  he  about  my  language  and  Nossa  Sen- 
hora  de  Nazareth  f"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  Tell  him 
that  I  speak  better  Portuguese  than  she  ever  did,  for 
all  her  black  eyes  and  tawny  skin." 

"  By  no  means,"  said  L'Isle,  smiling.  "  As  you 
will  have  no  opportunity  to  evangelize  the  man,  it 
will  do  no  good  to  outrage  his  idolatrous  veneration 
for  JVossa  Senhora  de  Nazareth  f  You  might  shake 
his  superstition,  yet  not  purify  his  faith,  but  merely 
drive  him  to  a  choice  between  the  church  and  in 
fidelity. 

They  now  left  the  shepherds  to  join  the  party.  "  I 
am  provoked,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  to  find  how  little 
progress  I  have  made  in  speaking  Portuguese.  But 
it  is  not  surprising  what  a  complete  mastery  the 
rudest  and  most  illiterate  people  here  have  over  their 
tongue." 

"  And  how  polite  and  sociable  they  are,"  said 
L'Isle.  "  Unlike  the  un mannered  and  almost  lan- 
guageless  English  peasant,  they  are  unembarrassed 
and  social,  fluent,  and  often  eloquent." 

"  Yet  these  men,"  said  she,  "  in  habits,  though  not 
in  race,  are  but  nomadic  Tartars  at  the  western  ex 
tremity  of  Europe." 

"  They  differ  too,"  said  L'Isle,  "  from  their  immed- 


126  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

iate  neighbors,  the  Spaniard,  in  being  far  more  socia 
ble  and  communicative.  For  instance,  I  have  got 
much  more  out  of  my  Portuguese  shepherd  than  a 
certain  French  traveler  got  out  of  his  shepherd  of 
Castile." 

"  What  do  yon  allude  to  ?"  she  asked. 

"  A  French  traveler,  it  is  said,  as  he  entered  Cas 
tile,  met  a  shepherd  guiding  his  flock.  Curious  to 
know  all  the  circumstances  which  give  to  the  Spanish 
wool  its  inimitable  qualities,  he  asked  the  shepherd 
an  hundred  questions  :  '  If  his  flock  belonged  to  that 
district  ?  "What  sort  of  food  was  given  it  ?  Whether 
he  was  on  a  journey  ?  From  whence  he  came  ?  Whi 
ther  he  was  going  ?  When  he  would  return  ?'  In 
short,  he  asked  every  question  a  prying  Frenchman 
could  think  of.  The  shepherd  listened  coldly  to  them 
all.  Then,  in  the  sententious  style  of  a  true  Castilian, 
replied,  '  aqui  nacen,  aqui  pacen^  aqui  muerenj  (here 
they  breed,  here  they  feed,  here  they  die,)  and  went 
his  way  without  a  word  more." 

The  party  spent  some  time  here,  dining  and  resting 
under  the  shade  of  these  prickly  oaks,  the  tree  that 
yields  the  famous  botolas,  so  largely  used  for  food  by 
men  and  swine,  and  on  tasting  which  we  are  less  sur 
prised  that  in  "  the  primal  age," 

"  Hunger  then 

Made  acorns  tasteful ;  thirst  each  rivulet 
Run  nectar." 

Mrs.  Shortridge  had  contrived  to  snatch  a  short  siesta, 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  127 

in  spite  of  her  fears.  Their  horses  were  led  up,  ready 
for  them  to  mount  and  proceed  on  their  journey,  when 
Lady  Mabel,  plucking  a  twig  from  a  branch  over 
head,  observed  on  it  several  specimens  of  the  kermes. 
She  could  not  resist  this  opportunity  of  displaying  her 
scraps  of  scientific  lore,  and  detained  the  party  while 
she  delivered  a  discourse  on  the  coccus  arborum, 
"  which,"  she  said,  "  infests  this  tree  ;  the  quercus 
cocci.  This  furnishes  what  the  ignorant-learned  long 
called  grains  of  kermes,  looking  like  dried  currants, 
which  they  mistook  for  the  fruit  of  a  tree,  while  it  is, 
in  truth,  the  dried  body  of  an  insect.  It  affords  a 
vermilion  dye,  not  so  brilliant,  but  far  more  durable 
than  the  cochineal  of  Mexico.  There  are  in  the  Neth 
erlands,"  she  continued,  "rich  tapestries  dyed  with 
kermes,  known  to  be  three  hundred  years  old,  which 
still  retain  their  pristine  brilliancy  of  color.  Only 
think,  Mrs.  Shortridge,  of  having  carpets,  shawls  and 
cloaks  of  such  unfading  hues  !" 

"  They  would  be  of  no  use  to  me,"  yawned  Mrs. 
Shortridge,  "I  would  be  even  more  tired  of  myself 
than  of  my  cloak,  before  the  end  of  three  hundred 
years." 

"  Why,"  exclaimed  L'Isle,  "  this  indestructible  dye 
must  be  the  very  stuff  with  which  the  old  lady  of 
Babylon  dyed  her  petticoat ;  for  it  has  not  faded  in 
the  least  since  she  first  put  it  on,  as  we  may  see  in  this 
country,  where  she  wears  it  openly,  without  even  a 
decent  piece  of  lawn  over  it,  to  suppress  the  bright 
ness  of  its  hues." 


128  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

"  As  onr  lives  are  not  so  lasting  as  the  dye  Lady 
Mabel  talks  of,"  said  the  commissary,  "  let  ns  make 
the  most  of  them  by  taking  horse  at  once,  and  hasten 
ing  on,  for  we  must  pass  through  Villa  Vicosa,  and 
sleep  several  miles  beyond  it  to-night." 

Returning  to  the  road,  they  presently  reached  a  cul 
tivated  valley,  and  passed  through  a  hamlet,  scarcely 
seen  before  it  was  entered,  so  completely  were  the 
low  stone  walls  of  the  'houses  hidden  by  the  olive, 
orange,  almond,  and  other  fruit-trees  surrounding 
them.  The  only  inhabitants  visible  were  two  or  three 
squalid  children,  playing  in  the  road,  and  a  woman 
lounging  at  her  door,  eyeing  the  party  with  mingled 
curiosity  and  suspicion,  while  a  stout  yearling  calf 
pushed  unceremoniously  past  her  into  the  house,  thus 
asserting  his  right  as  a  member  of  the  family. 

L'Isle  paused  before  the  little  church,  just  beyond 
the  village,  and  pointed  out  to  Lady  Mabel  a  curious 
cross,  the  first  of  the  kind  she  had  met  with,  though 
common  enough  in  the  peninsula.  It  was  composed 
of  human  skulls,  on  a  pedestal  of  thigh  bones,  the 
whole  let  into  the  wall,  and  secured  by  a  rough  kind 
of  stucco. 

"  Certainly  these  people  have  curious  ways  of  ex 
citing  devotional  fervor,  and  keeping  death  in  mem 
ory,"  said  Lady  Mabel. 

"  One  might  suppose  them  to  have  remarked  the 
grave-digger,  who  deals  habitually  with  the  rnold- 
ering  remains  of  humanity,  to  be  the  most  God-fear 
ing  of  men,"  said  L'Isle ;  "  so  they  seek  to  afford  to 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  129 

every  one  the  devotional  incentives  peculiar  to  the 
grave-digger.  Yet  their  symbols  serve  rather  to 
familiarize  us  with  material  death  in  this  world,  than 
to  remind  us  of  a  spiritual  life  in  the  world  to  come. 
They  often  teach  no  better  lesson  than  'Eat,  drink, 
and  be  merry,  for  to-morrow  we  die.'  ' 

"  I  have  been  told,1'  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  that  in 
spite  of  these  pious  devices,  the  people  have  lost  much 
of  their  devotional  ardor  and  fullness  of  faith." 

"Not  the  rustic  population,"  said  L'Isle;  "the 
church  still  retains  full  sway  over  them." 

"  I  cannot  say,"  observed  Lady  Mabel,  as  they 
turned  to  proceed  on  their  way,  "  that  the  Romish 
system  is  very  attractive  to  me.  But,  viewing  it  as 
a  sensuous  worship,  if  ever  I  become  a  convert,  it  will 
be  through  the  influence  of  its  music."  And  dropping 
the  reins  on  her  horse's  neck,  she,  with  clasped  hands 
and  upturned  eyes,  began  to  chant : 

"0  Sanctissima!  0  Purissima! 
Ora,  Ora,  pro  nobis,"  etc. 

Music  at  once  so  sweet  and  orthodox  from  a  heretic 
mouth,  attracted  the  muleteer's  attention,  and  turn 
ing,  he  sat  sideways  in  his  saddle  to  listen.  This  ex 
citing  old  Moodie's  suspicion,  he  pushed  his  horse 
close  up  to  Lady  Mabel's,  and  as  soon  as  she  paused, 
said  :  "  My  lady,  what  is  that  you  are  singing  ?" 

"A  hymn  to  the  Virgin." 

"  A   hymn   to   the  Virgin !"  he  repeated,  horror- 
struck. 
6 


130  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"Yes;  it  is  in  Latin,  you  know.  Have  you  never 
been  to  any  of  the  churches  in  Elvas,  to  ' assist'  at 
the  service  and  enjoy  the  music?" 

u  God  forbid  that  I  should  countenance  any  of  their 
idolatrous  rites." 

"  Their  music,  however,  is  excellent,  and  has  a 
grandeur  suited  to  the  worship  of  God."  You  lose 
much  in  not  hearing  it,  and  may,  at  least,  let  me 
amuse  myself  by  singing  a  Popish  hymn." 

"You  may  amuse  yourself  by  turning  Papist  in 
time.  What  begins  in  jest  often  ends  in  earnest ;  and 
yours,  my  lady,  will  not  be  the  first  soul  that  has 
been  caught  by  such  gear  as  the  sweet  sounds  and 
glittering  shows  of  idolatry." 

"But,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  coolly,  with  a  provoking 
insensibility  to  her  danger,  "  there  are,  not  only  in 
Latin,  but  in  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  many  of  these 
hymns  to  the  Holy  Yirgin — for,  doubtless,  she  was  a 
holy  virgin — exquisitely  happy,  both  in  words  and 
music.  A  devout  nation  has  poured  its  heart  into 
them." 

"They  are  all  idolatrous,  every  one  of  them.  There 
is  not  a  word  of  authority  for  the  worship  of  her  in 
Scripture,  and  the  texts  of  God's  book  are  our  only 
safe  guide." 

Lady  Mabel,  while  fanning  a  fire  that  never  went 
out,  was  gazing  around  on  the  landscape.  Suddenly 
she  said  :  "  You  are  a  great  stickler,  Moodie,  for  the 
words  of  Scripture,  yet  these  idolatrous  people  often 
stick  to  it  more  closely  than  you  do." 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  131 

"  I  will  trouble  you,  my  lady,  to  name  an  instance," 
Moodie  answered,  in  a  defiant  tone. 

"  Do  you  see  those  men  in  that  field,  with  three  yoke 
of  oxen  going  round  and  round  on  one  spot  ?" 

"  I  see  them.     But  what  of  them  ?" 

""While  you  and  other  heretic  Scots  are  rack 
ing  your  brains  to  devise  how  to  thresh  corn  by 
machines,  these  pious  people,  in  simple  obedience 
to  the  injunction,  '  Muzzle  not  the  ox  that  treadeth 
out  the  corn,'  are  treading  out  their  corn  with  un 
muzzled  oxen.  What  think  you  of  that,  Mr.  Stick-to- 
the-text?" 

"  1  think,  my  lady,"  he  answered,  doggedly,  "  that 
you  had  better  read  your  Bible  to  profit  by  it ;  not  to 
puzzle  an  old  man  less  learned  than  yourself.  But 
all  things  are  ordered."  Yet  he  loitered  behind  the 
party,  to  gaze  with  mingled  curiosity  and  pity  at 
these  people,  at  once  so  benighted  in  theology  and 
farming,  the  two  points  on  which  he  felt  himself 
strongest. 

They  had  not  ridden  much  further,  when  they  drew 
near  to  the  ruinous  walls  of  a  considerable  town,  situ 
ated  in  a  fertile  and  delightful  region,  and  retaining 
amidst  its  dilapidation  many  marks  of  grandeur.  En 
tering  through  a  ruinous  gateway,  they  paused  in  the 
grand  praga.  "  This,"  s#id  L'Isle,  "  is  Ville  Vicosa, 
4  the  delightful  city.'  What  a  pity  we  have  but  time 
to  take  a  hasty  glance  at  this  ducal  seat  of  the  house 
of  Braganza.  Two  sides  of  ihepraga,  as  you  see,  are 
occupied  by  the  classic  and  imposing  front  of  the 


132  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

palace  in  which  the  dukes  of  Braganza  lived  during 
the  sixty  years  of  the  Spanish  usurpation,  before  the 
heroism  of  the  nation  restored  the  royal  line  to  the 
throne." 

"Even  in  its  declining  fortunes,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"  Yilla  Yicosa  has  not  forgotten  its  connection  with 
Portuguese  royalty  and  nationality.  Was  it  not  the 
first  place  in  Alemtejo  to  resist  the  French  robbers, 
who  were  lording  it  over  them  ?" 

"Yes.  But  it  was  neither  loyalty  nor  patriotism 
that  spurred  them  on.  You  must  not  look  to  the 
royal  palace  before  you,  nor  even  to  that  ancient  and 
noble  church,  founded  by  the  illustrious  Constable, 
Alvarez  Pereira,  which  you  see  yonder,  aspiring  to 
heaven,  nor  to  the  associations  immediately  connected 
with  them,  for  the  impulse  which  at  length  stirred  up 
these  people  to  resist  the  oppressor.  You  must  rather 
seek  it  in  that  chapel,  devoted  to  ' Nossa  senhora  dos 
Remcdiosj  and  containing  her  miraculous  image. 
They  had  submitted  to  robbery,  insult,  and  outrage 
without  stint.  They  had  seen  Portuguese  soldiers 
seized  on  by  regiments,  and  marched  off  to  serve 
under  French  eagles.  They  had  heard  Junot's  inso 
lent  order  to  their  priests,  commanding  them  to  preach 
submission.  They  had  witnessed  the  utter  degrada 
tion  of  their  country.  They  had  just  seen  the  plate 
of  the  churches,  and  the  plunder  of  individuals,  col 
lected  throughout  the  neighboring  comarcas,  escorted 
through  the  town,  and,  though  groaning  in  spirit,  they 
stood  by  with  folded  arms.  But  when  the  godless 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  133 

French  soldiers  went  so  far  as  to  offer  insults  and  in 
dignities  to  Nossa  Senhora  dos  Remedios  on  her  own 
holy  day,  on  which  she  yearly  "displays  her  miracu 
lous  powers,  it  was  more  than  Portuguese  nature 
could  bear.  They  broke  out  into  open  resistance,  at 
first  successful-;— but  which  here  and  elsewhere  led  to 
woful  slaughter  of  the  patriotic  but  half-armed  mob." 

"  Heretic  as  you  are,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  you  must 
admit,  that  as  '  Our  Lady  of  the  Pillar'  proved  a  tower 
of  strength  to  the  Saragossans  in  their  first  siege,  so 
here,  either  the  patron  saints  of  the  Portuguese,  or 
their  faith  in  them,  has  often  done  them  yeoman's 
service." 

"  And  often  brought  disaster  upon  them,"  L'Isle  re 
plied.  "  For  instance,  St.  Antony  is  the  patron  saint 
of  Portugal.  I  am  not  going  to  deny  that  he  may 
have  done  them  good  service  at  times.  But  when  the 
archduke,  Charles  of  Austria,  commanded  the  army, 
about  IToO,  the  soldiers  became  exceedingly  unruly, 
and  demanded  a  native  general.  The  king  sent  them 
St.  Antony,  in  the  shape  of  a  wooden  image.  lie  was 
received  with  all  the  honors  due  to  his  rank.  By 
royal  decree  a  regular  commission  was  made  out,  ap 
pointing  him  generalissimo  of  all  the  forces  of  Portu 
gal,  and  he  continued  long  in  command ;  but,  though 
tin  excellent  saint,  Antony  proved  a  very  bad  general, 
and  repeatedly  brought  the  kingdom  to  the  brink  of 
ruin.  They  have  lately  been  compelled  to  displace 
him.  Now  that  Beresford  docs  their  fighting,  St.  An 
tony  has  full  leisure  to  devote  himself  to  intercession 


134  THE  ACTKESS'IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

on  their  behalf,  and,  between  the  two,  with  some  help 
from  us,  they  are  getting  on  pretty  well." 

The  commissary  now  hinted  that  they  had  before 
them  all  that  was  worth  seeing  in  u  this  musty  old 
place,"  and  the  party  passing  out  of  the  opposite  gate 
pushed  on  as  fast  as  they  could  over,  a  rough  road, 
running  across  a  succession  of  hills,  the  off-shoots  of 
Serra  d'Ossa. 

"  Traveling  in  this  country,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  as 
she  paused  with  L'Isle,  to  let  the  rest  of  the  party  come 
up,  "  is  like  sailing  over  rough  waters,  a  perpetual  up 
and  down,  neither  speedy  nor  safe." 

Few  countries  exhibit  a  greater  variety  of  surface 
than  Portugal,"  said  L'Isle;  "it  maybe  likened  to 
the  ocean  the  day  after  a  storm,  when  a  change  of 
wind  has  intersected  the  mountain  billows  with  every 
variety  of  little  waves.  The  language,  accordingly, 
is  rich  in  terms  expressive  of  these  variations  of  sur 
face.  It  has  Monte^  a  mountain ;  Montezhino,  a  little 
mountain ;  Outeiro,  a  hill  ;  Outeirinho,  a  hillock ; 
Scrra,  a  lofty  mountain,  with  various  inequalities  of 
surface ;  Serrania,  a  cluster  of  mountains  ;  Penha,  a 
rocky  precipice.  So  that  you  can  hardly  be  at  a  loss 
for  a  word  to  express  the  character  of  any  elevation. 
Meanwhile,  let  us  hasten  up  this  MontezJiino,  for  both 
the  sun  and  our  night's  quarters  are  on  the  other  side 
of  it,  and  the  former  will  not  wait  for  us  there." 

They  presently  caught  sight  of  what  seemed  at  first 
to  be  a  very  tall  woman  ;  but  they  soon  perceived  that 
it  was  a  friar,  who,  with  the  hood  of  his  black  cloak 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  135 

thrown  back  on  his  shoulders,  and  the  skirts  of  his 
diugy  grey  frock  girded  up  under  St.  Francis'  cord, 
was  making  such  good  time  on  his  up-hill  path,  that 
they  overtook  him  with  difficulty  at  the  top  of  the  hill. 
He  grasped  in  his  hand  what  had  a  marvelous  re 
semblance  to  the  cajadoj  a  seven-foot  staff,  pointed  at 
one  end,  and  with  a  heavy  knob  at  the  other,  with 
which  the  Portuguese  peasant  always  goes  armed ; 
and  a  formidable  weapon  it  is  in  his  skillful  hands. 
The  shortened  skirt  of  the  friar  exposed  a  pair  of  mus 
cular  calves,  that  bore  him  well  over  the  mountain 
road. 

He  turned  to  look  at  them  as  they  drew  near,  and 
they  saw  that  lie  was  a  young  man,  not  much  over 
twenty,  tall  and  strong,  and  remarkably  well  made 
and  good-looking. 

Old  Moodie  cast  a  sinister  look  on  him,  and  longed 
to  strip  him  of  his  frock,  and  put  him  between  the 
stilts  of  a  plough.  . 

uThis  is  a  noble  specimen,"  the  commissary  re 
marked,  "of  that  useless  army  the  country  maintains 
at  free  quarters.  His  ration  would  more  than  feed 
one  English  or  two  Portuguese  soldiers  for  its  de 
fence." 

"  I  would  like  to  turn  him  loose  on  a  Frenchman," 
said  L'Isle,  "  armed,  like  himself,  only  with  the  ca- 
jado.  What  a  recruit  Beresford  lost  when  this  young 
fellow  put  on  the  uniform  of  St.  Francis'  brigade !" 

L'Isle  exchanged  greetings  with  the  young  friar  as 
he  rode  up  abreast  of  him,  and  entered  into  conversa- 


136  THE   ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

tion  with  him  at  the  suggestion  of  Lady  Mabel,  \vlio, 
partly  to  annoy  her  crusty  watchman  behind  her, 
affected  to  be  much  interested  in  this  young  limb  of 
the  church. 

The  able-bodied  servant  of  St.  Francis  proved  intel 
ligent  and  sociable,  and,  while  he  eyed  the  travelers, 
particularly  Lady  Mabel,  with  much  interest,  let  them 
know  that  he  had  left  his  conventual  home  at  Yilla 
Yicosa,  on  a  visit  to  his  mother,  wrho  lived  at  a  village 
near  Ameixial,  and  that  he  would  pass  the  night  at 
the  venda  near  the  bottom  of  the  hill.  They  being 
also  bound  thither,  he  joined  them  without  ceremony, 
keeping  up  with  them  with  ease,  while  he  drew  out 
the  news  by  a  number  of  questions,  which  showed  that 
he  was  truly  an  active  young  friar,  disposed  to  gather 
ideas  as  well  as  alms  on  his  perambulations. 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  137 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

"When  late  arriving  at  our  inn  of  rest, 

Whose  roof  exposed  to  many  a  winter  sky, 
Half  shelters  from  the  wind  the  shivering  guest, 
By  the  pale  lamp's  dreary  gloom 
I  mark  the  miserable  room, 
And  gaze  with  angry  eye 
On  the  hard  lot  of  honest  poverty, 
And  sickening  at  the  monster  brood 
Who  fill  with  wretchedness  a  world  so  good. 
******* 

SOUTIIEY. 

IT  was  twilight  when  they  reached  the  venda,  a 
large  but  somewhat  ruinous  building,  surrounded  by  a 
few  scattered  trees,  on  the  sloping  ground  near  the 
foot  of  the  hill.  The  arriero  led  his  mules  through 
the  archway  which  formed  the  only  entrance,  and  the 
travelers  folio  wing  found  themselves  beside  and  almost 
in  a  large  apartment,  which  served  at  once  as  kitchen, 
parlor  and  dining-room  to  this  house  of  refuge,  which 
betrayed  by  many  signs,  that  if  it  had  ever  done  a 
thriving  business,  that  day  had  long  gone  by.  Dis 
mounting  here,  their  horses  were  led  on  into  the  stable 
under  the  same  roof,  and  imperfectly  separated  from 
the  kitchen  by  a  rude  wall. 

The  people  of  the  house,  an  old  man  and  two 
women,  sat  staring  at  them  without  making  any  hos- 
6* 


138  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

pitable  demonstrations.  So  L'Isle  made  the  first  ad 
vances,  and,  addressing  them  with  a  studied  courtesy 
that  seemed  ironical  to  the  ladies,  awakened  them 
somewhat  to  a  sense  of  their  duty  to  the  wayfarers. 
Seats  were  got  for  the  ladies  on  one  side  of  the  huge 
fire-place,  in  *  which  some  embers  were  smouldering, 
and  L'Isle  placed  twro  cork  stools  to  raise  their  feet 
above  the  damp  pavement  of  flat  stone.  On  the 
young  friar's  now  coming  forward  (for  with  a  modesty 
rare  in  his  order  he  had  hitherto  kept  in  the  back 
ground),  L'Isle  resumed  his  sociable  conversation  with 
him,  and  accepted  the  proffered  pinch  of  snuff,  that 
olive-branch  of  the  Portuguese.  This  evidently  had  a 
good  effect  on  their  hosts ;  while  Shortridge  was  sur 
prised  to  see  the  colonel,  whose  hauteur  he  had  him 
self  felt,  demean  himself  by  familiarity  with  these  low 
people.  He  did  not  know  that  a  proud  man,  if  his  be 
generous  pride,  is  apt  to  keep  it  for  those  who  assume 
superiority,  or  at  least  equality,  with  himself. 

That  was  not  the  commissary's  way.  So  he  began 
to  question  abruptly,  in  very  bad  Portuguese,  as  to 
the  state  of  her  larder,  the  elder  woman,  who,  ugly 
and  blear-eyed,  with  ragged,  scanty  dress,  and  bare 
feet,  yet  wore  a  necklace  of  beads  and  earrings  of  gold. 
She  answered  tartly,  that  it  being  a  fast-day,  there 
was  no  flesh  in  the  house.  They  had  bacalhao  and 
sardinhas,  and  garlic,  and  pepper,  and  onions,  and  oil, 
and  everything  that  Christians  Wanted  on  a  fast-day. 
She  forgot  to  say  that  the  house  was  without  flesh 
many  more  days  than  the  church  commands.  L'Isle, 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH    LIFE.  139 

with  more  address,  applied  to  the  younger  woman 
with  better  success,  inquiring  after  accommodations 
for  the  ladies.  He  so  moved  her  that  she  snatched  up 
the  only  lamp  in  the  room,  and,  leaving  the  rest  of 
the  party  in  the  growing  darkness,  ushered  the  ladies 
up  the  ladder,  like  stairs,  to  the  only  two  chambers 
where  they  could  be  private. 

Shortridge,  meanwhile,  finding  out  the  desolate 
state  of  the  larder,  let  the  woman  know  that  they  had 
not  come  unprovided  with  a  stock  of  edibles  of  their 
own.  He  urged  her  to  make  preparations  for  cooking- 
it  ;  so  rousing  the  old  man  from  his  chimney  corner, 
she  carried  him  out  with  her,  and  they  soon  returned 
with  no  small  part  of  a  cork-tree ;  and  when  Lady 
Mabel  and  Mrs.  Shortridge  came  down,  a  cheerful 
blaze  had  brought  out  more  fully  the  desolation  of  the 
room  in  dispelling  half  its  gloom. 

"  I  trust  you  have  found  a  habitable  chamber  over 
head,"  said  L'Isle  to  Lady  Mabel. 

"  I  were  a  heretic  to  complain,"  she  answered.  "  It 
is  true  the  room  has  no  window;  but  it  has  a  square 
hole  in  the  wall  to  let  in  the  light  and  let  out  the 
foul  air.  The  bed  is  hard  and  not  over  tidy.  But 
what  is  wanting  in  cleanliness  is  made  up  in  holiness ; 
for  the  bedstead  has  an  elaborate  crucifix  carved  at 
its  head,  and  I  shall  sleep  under  its  immediate  pro 
tection.  On  the  slightest  alarm,  by  merely  throwing 
my  arms  upward,  I  can  lay  hold  on  the  cross,  and 
nothing  will  be  wanting  to  the  sense  of  security  but 
faith  in  this  material  symbol  of  my  faith.  I  shall 


140  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

have  saintly  company,  too.  On  the  wall  to  the  right 
is  a  print  of  St.  Christopher  carrying  the  infant  Christ 
over  a  river,  and  a  bishop,  in  full  canonicals,  waiting 
on  the  other  side,  with  outstretched  arms,  to  receive 
him  ;  on  the  left,  is  a  picture  of  St.  Antony,  of  Padua, 
preaching  to  the  fishes.  Religion 'is  truly  part  and 
parcel  of  this  people's  every  day  life ;  and  the  reality 
of  their  devotion,  and  the  falsehood  and  frivolity  of 
many  of  its  objects,  make  a  contrast  truly  painful  to 
me." 

Old  Moodie,  the  muleteer,  and  the  servants,  having 
seen  after  their  horses  and  mules,  now  came  straggling 
into  this  hall,  common  to  all  the  inmates  of  the  house. 
Here  they  accommodated  themselves  with  such  seats 
as  they  could  tind,  or  contrive  out  of  the  baggage ; 
and  one  of  L'Isle's  servants  produced  the  rabbits  and 
partridges  purchased  on  the  road,  with  some  other 
provisions  brought  from  Elvas.  These  he  gave  to  the 
woman  of  the  house  to  cook  for  the  travelers,  and  no 
objection  was  started  as  to  cooking  flesh,  that  other 
people  might  commit  the  sin  of  eating  it  on  a  fast  day. 
The  whole  party  sat  in  a  large  semi-circle  around  the 
fire,  conversing;  and  watching  the  cooking  of  their 

'  O  O  O 

supper;  but  no  sooner  did  the  savory  fumes  diffuse 
themselves  through  the  building  than  another  person 
age  joined  them.  A  stout  pig,  evidently  a  denizen  of 
the  house,  came  trotting  and  grunting  out  of  the 
stable,  and  pushed  his  way  into  the  interior  of  the 
social  circle.  Though  he  received  some  rude  buffets, 
he  persisted  in  keeping  within  it,  until,  trenching  on 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  141 

Lady  Mabel's  precincts,  she  made  such  an  application 
of  her  riding-wand  that  he  was  glad  to  seek  refuge 
again  among  his  four-legged  companions. 

"It  would  seem,"  Lady  Mabel  remarked,  "that 
these  Vendas  are  caravansaries,  providing  only  shel 
ter  for  the  traveler,  who  is  expected  to  bring  his  own 
food." 

"This  is  so  true,  that  it  is  a  blessing  there  are  no 
game  laws  in  the  peninsula,"  said  L'Isle.  "The 
traveler  would  often  starve  at  the  inn  but  for  the 
game  purchased  on  the  road.  And  it  is  well  to  travel 
prepared  to  shoot  one's  own  game,  as  you  are  per 
petually  threatened  with  famine  or  robbers.  The 
cookery,  too,  of  this  country  is  peculiar,  and  if  you 
ladies  watch  the  process  closely,  you  may  carry  home 
some  valuable  hints  in  what  some  people  think  the 
iirst  of  the  arts." 

They  accordingly  closely  watched  the  cooking,  of 
the  rabbits  particularly.  Each  was  spitted  on  a  little 
spit,  which  had  four  legs  at  the  handle,  the  other  end 
resting  on  a  piece  of  the  fuel.  When  one  side  was 
roasted,  the  other  was  turned  to  the  fire.  To  know 
when  they  were  done,  the  woman  cracked  the  joints; 
laying  them  by  until  cool,  she  then  tore  them  to  pieces 
with  her  fingers;  and  afterward  fried  the  already 
over-roasted  meat  with  onions,  garlic,  red  pepper,  and 
oil,  which  is  always  rancid  in  Portugal,  from  the  cus 
tom  of  never  pressing  the  olives  until  they  are  stale. 

The  commissary  knew  too  much  about  Portuguese 
cookery  to  trust  to  it.  He  had  provided  himself  be- 


142  THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

fore  leaving  Elvas  with  the  commissary's  cut,  which 
is  always  the  best  steak  from  the  best  bullock.  He 
now  produced  from  among  his  baggage  that  imple 
ment  so  truly  indicative  of  the  march  of  English 
civilization — the  gridiron ;  and  not  until  the  large 
table,  at  the  other  side  of  the  room,  had  been  spread, 
and  supper  was  ready,  did  his  man  proceed  to  dress 
it  skillfully  and  quickly,  under  the  vigilant  superin- 
tendance  of  the  commissary  himself. 

They  were  sitting  down  to  supper  when  L'Isle,  see 
ing  that  the  young  friar  remained  by  the  fire,  pointed 
out  a  vacant  seat,  and  asked  him  to  join  them.  But 
he  shook  his  head. 

"  You  are  eating  flesh.     I  must  fast  to-day." 

"Because  the  Scriptures  bid  you?"  L'Isle  inquired. 

"  Because  the  Church  commands  me." 

"  You  are  aware,  then,  that  there  is  no  absolute  in 
junction  in  Scripture  to  fast  on  particular  days." 

"  Yet  the  Church  may  have  authority — it  doubtless 
has  authority  to  appoint  such  days,"  the  young  friar 
answered,  seeming  at  once  to  stifle  a  doubt  and  his 
appetite. 

Cookery  must  be  judged  of  by  the  palate,  and  not 
by  the  eye.  So  Lady  Mabel  made  a  strong  effort  to 
try  the  rabbits  by  the  latter  test — having  had  ocular 
proof  that  they  were  not  cats  in  disguise.  But,  after 
persevering  through  two  or  three  mouthfuls,  the  gar 
lic,  red  pepper,  and  rancid  oil,  and  the  fact  of  having 
witnessed  the  whole  process  of  cooking  and  fingering 
the  fricassee,  proved  too  much  for  her;  and  she  was 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  143 

fain  to  be  indebted  to  the  commissary  for  a  small 
piece  of  his  steak,  reeking  hot,  and  dripping  with  its 
natural  juices. 

The  woman  of  the  house  now  placed  on  a  bench 
before  the  friar,  some  Iroa,  or  maize  bread,  and  a 
piece  of  bacalhao,  fried  in  oil.  From  the  size  of  the 
morsel,  the  stock  in  the  larder  seemed  to  have  run 
low,  even  in  this  article,  which  is  nothing  but  codfish 
salted  by  British  heretics  for  the  benefit  of  the  souls 
and  bodies  of  the  true  sons  of  the  Church.  The  friar 
eat  alone  and  in  silence,  less  intent  on  his  meal  than 
in  watching  and  listening  to  the  party  at  the  table. 

"They  are,  every  one  of  them,  eating  flesh,  and 
this  day  is  a  fast,"  said  the  elder  woman  to  the  friar, 
in  a  tone  of  affected  horror. 

"  And  they  eat  it  almost  raw,"  answered  the  friar, 
as  Shortridge  thrust  an  ounce  of  red  beef  into  his 
mouth.  "  But  I  know  not  that  the  Church  has  pro 
hibited  that." 

The  ladies  and  the  commissary  retired  soon,  fatigued 
with  their  long  day's  ride.  The  friar  was  devoutly 
telling  his  beads,  and  L'Isle  sat  musing  by  the  fire, 
while  the  servants,  in  turn,  took  their  places  at  the 
supper  table.  Presently  the  friar,  having  got  through 
his  devotions,  rose  as  if  about  to  retire  for  the  night ; 
but,  as  he  passed  L'Isle,  he  loitered,  as  if  wishing  to 
converse,  perhaps  for  the  last  time,  with  this  foreigner, 
whose  position,  character,  and  ideas,  differed  so  much 
from  his  own,  and  who  yet  could  make  himself  so 
well  understood.  As  L'Isle  looked  up,  he  said: 


141  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  Men  of  your  profession  see  a  great  deal  of  the 
world." 

"  Yes.  A  soldier  is  a  traveler,  even  if  he  never 
goes  out  of  his  own  country." 

"•  But  the  soldiers  of  your  country  visit  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  world,  the  Indies  in  the  east  and  west, 
and  now  this,  our  country,  and  many  a  land  be 
sides." 

"  At  one  time  the  soldiers  of  Portugal  did  the  same," 
said  L'Isle. 

"  Yes ;  there  was  a  time  when  we  conquered  and 
colonized  many  a  remote  land,  where  the  banner 
of  no  other  European  nation  had  ever  been  seen. 
We  still  have  our  colonies,  but,  some  how  or  other, 
they  do  not  seem  to  do  us  any  good." 

"  But  men  of  your  profession,"  said  L'Isle,  "  have 
been  as  great  or  even  greater  travelers  than  soldiers. 
They  are  few  regions,  however  remote  or  inaccessible, 
which  the  priests  of  the  Church  of  Home,  and  mem 
bers  of  your  own  order,  have  not  explored." 

"The  friar  was  silent  and  thoughtful  for  a  moment, 
and  then  said  :  "  What  you  say  is  true ;  yet  it  seems 
to  me,  that  is  no  longer  the  case,  or,  at  least,  that  our 
order  here  has  been  remiss  in  sending  forth  missiona 
ries  to  foreign  lands.  Here  most  of  us  follow  through 
life  the  same  dull  round.  It  is,  however,  the  round 
of  our  duties.  But,  perhaps,  to  find  one's  self  in  a 
strange  country,  surrounded  by  new  scene?,  an  un 
known,  perhaps  heathen  people,  with  difficulties  to 
struggle  with,  obstacles  to  overcome,  might  awaken 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  145 

in  a  man  powers  that  he  did  not  know  were  slumber 
ing  in  him,  and  enable  him  to  do  some  good,  per 
chance  great  work,  he  never  would  have  accomplished 
at  home."  And  the  young  friar  drew  himself  up  to 
his  full  height,  while  his  frame  seemed  to  expand 
with  the  struggling  energies  that  were  shut  up  unem 
ployed  within  him. 

Visions  of  travel,  toil,  adventure,  perhaps  martyr 
dom,  seemed  to  float  before  his  eyes,  and  without  an 
other  wrord,  he  strode  off  with  a  step  more  like  that 
of  a  soldier  than  a  Franciscan. 

L'Isle  gazed  after  him  with  interest  and  pity,  then 
ordering  the  table  to  be  cleared,  stretched  himself  on 
it  for  the  night,  wrapped  in  his  cloak,  rather  than  rely 
on  the  accommodations  of  the  large  room  up  stairs, 
conmion  to  wayfarers  of  every  grade,  and  populous 
with  vermin. 


146  THE  ACTRESS   IN   HIGH  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

When  at  morn  the  muleteer, 
With  early  call  announces  day, 
Sorrowing  that  early  call  I  hear 
That  scares  the  visions  of  delight  away ; 
For  dear  to  me  the  silent  hour, 
When  sleep  exerts  its  wizard  power. 

SOUTHEY. 


"  I  trust  you  rested  well  last  night,  under  the  pro 
tection  of  your  saintly  guardians,"  L'Isle  said  to 
Lady  Mabel,  when  she  made  her  appearance  down 
stairs,  before  the  sun  was  yet  up. 

"Do  not  speak  of  last  night,"  she  said,  throwing 
up  her  hands  in  a  deprecatory  manner,  "  let  it  be 
utterly  forgotten,  and  not  reckoned  among  the  num 
ber  of  the  nights.  It  was  one  of  penance,  not  repose  ! 
Never  will  I  speak  lightly  of  the  saints  again.  I  can 
only  hope  that  that  and  all  my  other  sins  are  expia 
ted,  if  1  can  infer  any  thing  from  the  number  of  my 
tormentors." 

"  Were  they  so  numerous  ?"  L'Isle  asked,  in  a  tone 
of  sympathy. 

"  And  various  !"  emphasized  Lady  Mabel.  "  Whole 
legions  of  various  orders,  light  and  heavy  armed.  I 
could  have  forgiven  the  first,  were  it  only  for  their 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  147 

magnanimous  mode  of  making  war,  always  sounding 
the  trumpet,  and  giving  fair  warning  before  they 
charged  ;  and  the  attack  being  openly  made,  I  could 
revenge  myself  on  some  of  them  by  the  free  use  of 
my  hands,  and  protect  my  face  by  covering  it  with 
my  veil,  at  the  risk  of  being  smothered.  But  the 
next  band  were  so  minute  and  active,  and  secret  in 
their  movements,  that  I  never  knew  where  to  expect 
them.  But  the  last  slow,  heavy  legion  which  came 
crawling  insidiously  on,  were  the  most  tormenting 
and  sickening  of  all.  To  be  tortured  by  such  a  crowd 
of  little  fiends  was  enough  to  produce  delirium.  But 
I  will  not  recall  the  visions  of  the  night.  It  was  worse 
than  dreaming  of  being  in  purgatory  !" 

"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  you  had  such  shocking 
dreams,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  who,  as  she  came 
down  the  stairs,  heard  Lady  Mabel's  last  words,  "  I 
would  have  been  thankful  to  be  able  to  dream ;  but 
the  mule  bells  jingling  under  us  all  night  were  a 
trifling  annoyance  compared  to  the  mosquitos,  fleas, 
and  bugs,  which  scarcely  allowed  me  a  wink  of  sleep." 

"  Sleep  !"  Lady  Mabel  exclaimed,  "  they  murdered 
sleep,  and  mine  were  waking  torments." 

"  It  is  allowing  to  the  filthy  habits  of  the  nation, "con 
tinued  Mrs.  Shortridge.  "The  very  pigs  and  asses  are  as 
much  a  part  of  the  family  as  the  children  of  the  house." 

"The  fraternization  of  the  human  race  with  brutes, 
which  prevails  here,"  L'Isle  remarked,  "  certainly, 
promotes  neither  comfort  nor  cleanliness.  Indeed,  it 
is  curious,  that  as  you  go  from  north  to  south,  cleanli- 


148  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

ness  should  decline  in  the  inverse  ratio  with  the  need 
of  it.  Compared  with  ourselves,  the  French  are  not 
a  cleanly  people,  but  become  so  when  contrasted  with 
their  neighbors,  the  Spaniards,  who  are,  in  turn,  less 
filthy  than  the  Portuguese,  whose  climate  renders 
cleanliness  still  more  necessary." 

"  By  that  ratio,  what  standard  of  cleanliness  will  you 
find  in  Morocco  ?"  asked  Lady  Mabel. 

"Perhaps  a  prominent  and  redeeming  feature  in 
their  religion,"  said  L'Isle,  "  may  exalt  the  standard 
there.  Mahornedan  ablutions  may  avail  much  in  this 
world,  though  little  in  the  next." 

u  I  am  afraid,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  that  their  clean 
ly  superstition  will  make  me  almost  regret  the  expul 
sion  of  the  Moors." 

The  commissary  was  now  bustling  about,  hurrying 
the  preparations  for  breakfast,  and  L'Isle  went  to  see 
if  the  servants  were  getting  ready  for  the  journey  ; 
but  Mrs.  Shortridge,  full  of  the  annoyances  she  had 
suffered,  continued  to  denounce  their  small  enemies. 
Her  talk  was  of  vermin. 

Lady  Mabel,  thinking  the  subject  had  been  suffi 
ciently  discussed,  interrupted  her,  saying,  "you  do 
not  take  the  most  philosophical  and  poetical  view  of 
the  subject.  Is  it  not  consolatory  to  reflect,  that 
while  men,  on  suffering  a  reverse  of  fortune,  too  often 
experience  nothing  but  ingratitude  and  desertion  from 
their  fellows,  and  sadly  learn  that 

"  'Tis  ever  thus :  Those  shadows  we  call  friends, 
Attend  us  through  the  sunshine  of  success, 
To  vanish  in  adversity's  dark  hour." 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  149 

Yet  there  are  followers  that  adhere  to  them  in  their 
fallen  fortunes  with  more  than  canine  fidelity,  sticking 
to  them  like  their  sins,  clinging  to  their  persons,  cleav 
ing  to  their  garments,  with  an  attachment  and  in 
numbers  that  grow  with  their  patron's  destitution." 

"  But  I  maintain,"  Mrs.  Shortridge  replied,  "  that  it 
is  not  only  the  poor  and  destitute  that  here  support 
such  a  retinue.  I  have  repeatedly  seen  in  Lisbon,  and 
elsewhere,  young  ladies,  and  among  others  a  young 
widow  of  high  rank,  the  sister  of  the  Bishop  of  Opor 
to,  lying  with  her  head  in  the  lap  of  her  friend,  who 
parted  the  locks  of  her  hair  to  search — " 

"  Stop  !"  said  Lady  Mabel,  laying  her  hand  on  Mrs. 
Shortridge's  mouth,  "  you  need  not  chase  those  small 
deer  any  further  through  the  wood.  Leave  that  priv 
ileged  sport  to  the  natives." 

Breakfast  was  now  ready,  and  Shortridge  called  to 
the  ladies  to  lose  no  time.  L'Isle,  seeing  the  young 
friar  in  front  of  the  venda,  brought  him  in  and  seated 
him  beside  him.  He  pressed  upon  him  many  good 
things,  which  the  house  did  not  furnish  ;  and  this  being 
no  fast-day,  the  friar  eat  a  meal  better  proportioned  to 
his  youth,  his  bulk,  and  his  health,  than  his  last  night's 
meagre  fare.  He  showed  his  patriotism  by  his  ap 
proval  of  one  of  those  hams  of  marvelous  flavor,  the 
boast  of  Portugal,  the  product  of  her  swine,  not  stuffed 
into  obesity  in  prison,  but  gently  swelling  to  rotundity 
while  ranging  the  free  forest,  and  selecting  the  Iwlotas, 
and  other  acorns,  as  they  drop  fresh  from  the  boughs. 
The  friar  was  not  so  busy  with  his  meal  but  what  he 


150  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

continued  to  observe  his  new  friends  closely,  and  while 
the  servants  were  getting  their  breakfast,  he  seized  the 
leisure  afforded  to  converse  with  L'Isle,  and  with  Lady 
Mabel  through  him.  After  many  questions  asked  and 
answered,  the  friar  became  thoughtful  and  abstracted, 
as  if  he  had  been  brought  in  contact  with  a  new  class 
of  persons  and  ideas,  which  he  could  not  at  once  com 
prehend. 

L'Isle  now  asked  him,  "  When  and  why  he  had  put 
on  St.  Francis'  frock  ?" 

"  I  do  not  remember  when  I  wore  any  other  dress. 
I  was  not  four  years  old  when  I  was  seized  with  a 
violent  sickness,  and,  soon  at  the  point  of  death.  My 
mother  vowed  that  if  St.  Francis  would  hear  her 
prayer,  and  spare  me,  her  only  son,  she  would  devote 
me  to  his  service.  From  that  moment,  as  my  mother 
has  often  told  me,  I  began  to  mend.  As  soon  as  a 
dress  of  the  order  could  be  made  for  me,  I  put  it  on. 
From  that  day  I  grew  and  strengthened  rapidly,  and 
have  not  had  a  day's  sickness  since.  When  old  enough 
I  was  sent  to  school,  and  then  served  my  noviciate  in 
the  Franciscan  convent  in  Villa  Yicosa.  I  am  now  on 
leave  to  visit  my  mother  and  sisters,  who  live  near 
Ameixial." 

"  If  you  had  chosen  for  yourself,"  L'Isle  suggested, 
"  perhaps  you  would  not  have  been  a  friar." 

"  Perhaps  not,"  said  the  young  friar,  hesitating. 
"  Indeed,  I  have  been  lately  told,  though  I  am  loath 
to  admit  it,  that,  urgent  as  the  necessity  was  that  gave 
rise  to  our  order,  and  great  as  its  services  have  been, 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  151 

especially  in  former  days,  our  hoty  mother,  the  Church, 
can  be  better  served  now,  by  servants  who  assume  a 
more  polished  exterior,  and  obeying  St.  Paul's  injunc 
tion  to  be  all  things  to  all  men,  mingle  on  a  footing  of 
equality  with  men  of  this  world,  although  they  are 
not  of  it." 

"  Who  told  you  this  ?"  asked  L'Isle. 

"  A  learned  and  traveled  priest,  whom  I  lately  met 
with.  He  delighted  me  with  his  knowledge,  while  he 
startled  me  by  the  boldness  of  some  of  his  opinions." 

"  But,  perhaps,"  L'Isle  persisted,  "  if  left  to  your 
own  unbiassed  choice,  you  would  not  have  taken 
orders  at  all." 

The  young  man  paused,  evidently  unable^ to  shut 
out  the  thought,  "  Are  there  callings,  which,  without 
doing  violence  to  my  nature,  are  compatible  with  the 
service  of  God  ?"  At  length  he  answered,  with  a  re 
serve  not  usual  to  him,  u  It  is  not  every  man  whose 
way  of  life  is,  or  can  be,  chosen  by  himself."  Then, 
crossing  himself  earnestly,  as  if  stifling  the  thought, 
and  trampling  down  the  tempting  devil  within  him, 
he  exclaimed,  "I  must  believe  that  my  instant  re 
covery  from  deadly  sickness  as  soon  as  I  was  devoted 
to  St.  Francis,  proves  that  he  has  chosen  me  for  his 
service  and  God's." 

He  said  this  eagerly  and  with  an  air  of  sincerity, 
and  again  made  the  sign  of  the  cross.  Yet  the  doubt 
ing  devil  seemed  to  linger  about  him,  and  he  sunk  into 
silence,  seeming  little  satisfied  with  himself.  Mean 
while,  during  his  conference  with  L'Isle  and  Lady 


152  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

Mabel,  old  Moodie  stood  near,  eyeing  him  with  sinis 
ter  looks,  as  if  he  had  been  the  inventor,  not  the  vic 
tim,  of  the  popish  system,  and  all  its  corruptions  rest 
ed  on  his  head.  The  old  man  now  urged  them  to  take 
horse,  and  allowed  them  no  respite  from  his  bustling 
interference  until  the  party  was  again  on  the  road. 

The  friar  watched  their  motions  with  interest ;  and 
when,  after  crossing  the  valley  and  ascending  the  hill 
before  them,  Lady  Mabel  turned  to  take  a  last  look  at 
the  ruinous  old  venda,  she  saw  him  still  standing  like 
a  statue  in  the  archway,  doubtless  with  eye  and  thought 
following  their  steps. 

"I  am  afraid,"  sa,id  L'Isle,  "  that  our  young  gowns 
man  will  have  to  undergo  a  ruinous  conflict  in  the 
struggle  between  his  nature  and  his  fate.  His  is 
the  worst  possible  condition  for  a  man  of  vigorous 
character  and  inquiring  mind.  He  has  not  arrived  at 
his  convictions,  but  had  prematurely  thrust  upon  him 
the  convictions  he  is  professedly  bound  to  hold." 

"  And  you  have  helped  him  into  the  conflict,"  said 
Lady  Mabel,  "  without  staying  to  see  him  through  it." 

"  I  trust  not.  But,  anyhow,  it  would  have  come. 
Were  he  a  monk  even,  seclusion  and  devotion  might 
protect,  study  might  withdraw  him  from  many  temp 
tations.  Were  he  a  secular  priest,  the  active  and 
definite  duties  of  a  parish,  fulfilling  and  inculcating 
the  obligations  of  Christian  morals,  which  are  the 
same  in  every  church,  might  have  tasked  his  energies. 
But,  to  be  all  his  life  a  wandering  beggar,  in  the  name 
of  God  and  St.  Francis  !  If  enthusiasts  are  to  be 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  153 

pitied,  how  much  more  those  who,  without  being,  are 
compelled  to  lead  the  life  of  enthusiasts  !  Is  it  won 
derful  that  many  of  these  men  are  apostles  only  of 
ignorance  and  profligacy  ?" 

u  But  this  young  man  has  a  mind  too  active  and 
enquiring  for  contented  ignorance,"  said  Lady  Mabel . 
"From  his  very  nature  he  must  go  on  adding  fact  to 
fact,  and  thought  to  thought." 

"  Until  he  has  built  up  a  system  of  his  own,"  an 
swered  L'Isle.  "  And,  a  hundred  chances  to  one,  that 
will  not  coincide  with  the  teachings  of  St.  Francis  and 
of  Home.  What  must  he  do,  then  ?  He,  a  professed 
Franciscan,  has  lost  his  faith  in  St.  Francis,  in  Rome, 
perhaps  in  Christ ! — known  to  him  only  through  Rome. 
Must  he  persevere?  or  shall  he  abjure?  Between 
hypocrisy  and  martyrdom,  he  now  must  choose.  Think 
not,  because  the  fires  of  the  auto  da  fe  are  extinct,  a 
churchman  here  can  safely  abjure  his  profession  and 
his  faith.  A  man  may  live  a  life  of  martyrdom,  al 
though  he  escape  a  martyr's  death." 

They  had  ridden  on  some  miles,  and  new  scenes  had 
suggested  other  topics,  when  they  heard  a  shout  be 
hind  them,  and,  looking  round,  saw  the  old  man  of 
the  Venda  displaying  unwonted  energy.  He  was 
vigorously  pummeling  with  his  heels  the  vicious  burro 
on  which  he  followed  them,  while  he  held  up  some 
article  of  clothing,  and  shouted  after  them  at  the  top 
of  his  voice. 

They  stopped  for  him  to  come  up,  and  he  handed 
to  Lady  Mabel  a  rich  shawl,  which  she  had  left  behind 

7 


154  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

in  her  bed-room,  and  a  scrap  of  dingy  white  paper. 
Kefusing  any  reward  for  his  trouble  and  honesty,  he 
at  once  took  leave  and  turned  back,  the  ass  showing 
a  more  willing  spirit  on  his  homeward  path. 

After  trying  in  vain  to  decipher  the  scroll,  Lady 
Mabel  handed  it  to  L'Isle.  "  Cito,  tute,  jucunde  pere- 
grineris"  "Swift,  safe  and  pleasant  may  your  jour 
ney  be,"  said  L'Isle,  translating  it.  "This  is,  doubt 
less,  from  the  young  friar.  He  is  anxious  to  show  you 
at  once  his  scholarship  and  his  good-will.  We  must 
not  find  fault  with  his  Latin,  which  is  capital — for  a 
friar  !" 

"  Give  it  to  me.  I  will  keep  it  as  a  talisman  of 
safety,  and  as  a  memorial  of  our  friar.  Poor  fellow!" 
continued  Lady  Mabel,  "  I  suppose  the  best  wish  I 
can  return  him  is,  that  enthusiasm  may  carry  him,  in 
sincerity  and  purity,  through  the  path  others  have 
chosen  for  him." 

"lie  is  an  impudent  fellow!"  growled  out  old 
Moodie.  "  You  set  too  great  store,  my  lady,  by  this 
young  vagabond  !" 

"  Vagabond  !"  she  exclaimed,  with  a  look  and  tone 

of  grave  rebuke,  "  I  am  afraid,  Moodie,  if  you  had  met 

St.  Paul  wandering  through  Macedonia  without  staff 

v*  or  scrip,  or  the  cloak  he  left  behind  at  Troas,  you 

would  have  found  no  better  title  for  him." 

"  Is  this  man  like  St.  Paul  ?"  asked  Moodie,  startled 
at  the  profane  supposition. 

"I  do  not  say  so.  But  the  whole  order  of  friars, 
renouncing  worldly  objects,  devote  themselves  to  the 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  155 

N 

imitation  of  the  seventy  disciples  in  Scripture,  who 
were  sent  out  by  two  and  two  to  evangelize  the 
Jews." 

"  I  never  expected,  my  lady,  to  hear  you  liken  these 
lazy  monks  to  our  Lord's  disciples." 

"  They  are  not  monks,  but  friars,"  said  Lady  Mabel 
quietly,  "  and,  without  answering  for  their  practice, 
I  cannot  but  approve  of  what  they  profess.  They  do 
not  shut  themselves  up  from  the  world,  like  the  monks, 
under  pretence  of  escaping  contamination,  but  devote 
themselves  to  the  mission  of  traveling  about  in  apos 
tolic  poverty  from  house  to  house,  and,  by  prayer  and 
preaching,  by  inculcating  charity,  and  receiving  alms, 
sow  every  where  the  seeds  of  the  faith  they  profess." 

"  The  words  old  Chaucer  puts  into  the  mouth  of  his 
friar,"  said  L'Isle,  "  well  express  the  objects  of  the 
order : 

"  In  shrift,  in  preaching  is  my  diligence, 
And  study  in  Peter's  words  and  in  Paul's ; 
I  walk  and  fish  Christian  men's  souls, 
To  yield  my  Lord  Jesu  his  proper  rent  ; 
To  spread  his  word  is  set  all  mine  intent." 

u  A  truly  apostolic  aim  !"  Lady  Mabel  exclaimed, 
looking  triumphantly  round  on  her  old  follower. 

The  descending  road  here  narrowed  suddenly,  and 
Moodie  reined  back  his  horse,  silent  in  the  sad  convic 
tion  that  Lady  Mabel  had  already  got  beyond  that 
half-way  house  between  the  region  of  evangelical 
purity  and  idolatrous  Home. 

In  the  narrow  valley,  overgrown  writh  shrubs  and 


156  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

brushwood  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  they  came  suddenly 
on  a  large  number  of  swine  luxuriating  in  the  cool 
waters,  or  on  the  shady  banks  of  a  brook.  The  swine 
vanished  instantly  amidst  the  thickets,  though  hundreds 
were  still  heard  grunting  and  squealing  around  them, 
and  the  travelers  might  have  taken  them  for  wild  den 
izens  of  the  wilderness,  had  not  a  fierce  growl  attract 
ed  their  attention,  and  they  saw  on  the  opposite  bank 
a  man  reclining  under  a  carob  tree,  one  hand  resting 
on  the  neck  of  a  huge  dog,  who  yet  showed  two  sav 
age  rows  of  teeth,  and  fixed  his  vigilant  and  angry 
eyes  on  the  intruders.  The  wild  air  of  the  master  de 
lighted  Lady  Mabel,  for  there  was  mingled  with  it  a 
savage  dignity  as  he  stretched  his  manly  form  on  the 
wolf-skin  spread  out  under  him;  and  gazed  calmly  on 
the  party  drawing  near.  While  their  horses  stopped 
to  drink  at  the  stream,  they  observed  him  narrowly — 
he  receiving  this  attention  with  stoic  indifference.  A 
long  gun  lay  on  the  ground  beside  him,  and  his  gar 
ments,  made  chiefly  of  the  dressed  skins  of  animals, 
defied  brier  or  thorn. 

"  Are  we  on  the  road  to  Evora  ?"  L'Isle  asked,  by 
way  of  opening  a  parley  ;  but  the  man  merely  waved 
his  hand  gently  toward  the  hill  and  path  before  them. 
Resolved  to  make  him  speak,  L'Isle  asked,  "  What 
game  have  you  killed  to-day  ?" — for  he  saw  some  ani 
mal  lying  in  the  moss  at  the  foot  of  the  tree.  The 
hunter  silently  held  up  a  lynx  and  an  otter,  which  he 
had 'lately  snared,  and  seemed  to  forget  the  presence 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  157 

of  strangers  in  contemplating  his  game.  Despairing 
of  extracting  a  word,  the  travelers  rode  on. 

"  What  a  silent,  unsocial  wretch  !"  Mrs.  Shortridge 
exclaimed.  "  He  seems  to  prefer  the  company  of  a 
savage  hound,  and  his  dead  game,  to  that  of  living 
Christians." 

"  He  thinks  a  heretic  no  Christian,  if  he  thinks  at 
all,"  said  L'Isle ;  and  he  called  to  the  guide,  to  ask 
what  this  wild  man  was. 

"  He  is  a  swine-herd." 

"  Indeed !"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  I  took  him  for  a 
bandit,  or  a  bold  hunter,  at  least." 

"  But  he  is  the  swine-herd  of  the  great  monastery  of 
the  Paulists,  who  own  half  the  lands  on  the  southern 
slope  of  Serra  d'Ossa.  He  is  a  matchless  hunter  too, 
spending  fewer  nights  under  a  roof  than  on  the  moun 
tain-side,  where  all  the  game  is  as  much  his,  as  the 
swine  he  keeps  is  the  property  of  the  good  fathers. 
They  have  the  best  bacon  in  all  Portugal,  and  plenty 
of  it,  as  many  a  poor  man  can  tell ;  and  they  know  this 
man's  value,  for  he  were  a  bold  thief  that  pinched  the 
ear  of  his  smallest  pig." 

"  As  soon  as  I  get  back  to  Elvas,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"  I  will  send  Major  Warren  to  make  his  acquaintance. 
The  major  will  be  charmed  with  him.  For  his  am 
bition  is  to  take  all  sorts  of  game,  in  every  possible 
way ;  and  though  I  have,  or  might  have  had,  the  his 
tory  of  all  his  hunts  by  heart,  neither  lynx  or  otter 
has  yet  figured  in  the  scene.  You  remember,  Colonel 
L'Isle,  how  much  satisfaction  he  expressed  when  you 


158  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

lately  hinted  at  the  probability  of  our  brigade  finding 
itself  in  the  north  of  Portugal  early  in  the  coming 
campaign.  I  at  first  thought  that  the  soldier  saw  some 
military  advantage  in  the  movement,  but  found  it 
was  only  the  sportsman's  delight  at  the  hope  of  visit 
ing  Truzos  Montes,  and  killing  one  of  the  few  Cau 
casian  goats  that  yet  linger  on  the  most  inaccessible 
heights  there." 

"  ~No  gamester,"  said  L'Isle,  "  is  more  a  slave  to  the 
dice.  That  at  this  time  a  soldier  should  be  so  little 
'  lost  in  the  world's  debate'  as  to  be  eager,  above  all 
things,  to  kill  a  goat !" 

They  had  now  reached  a  point  which  gave  them  a 
fine  view  of  the  southern  side  of  Serra  d'Ossa,  so  dif 
ferent  from  the  northern,  being  fertile,  and  showing 
many  a  cultivated  spot  upon  its  lower  slopes,  while 
the  light,  fleecy  clouds,  gathering  before  the  gentle 
western  wind,  now  veiled  and  then  revealed  the  over 
hanging  dark  blue  ridge  that  crowned  the  scene.  The 
guide  pointed  out  the  broad  possessions  of  the  great 
monastery  of  the  Paulists.  At  a  distance,  on  the  right, 
rose  Evora  Monte,  built  like  a  watch-tower  on  a  lofty 
hill ;  and,  to  the  south,  the  monastic  towers  and  Gothic 
spires  of  Evora,  the  city  of  monks,  raised  high  above 
the  plain,  could  be  seen  from  alar. 

"  Why,"  asked  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  do  these  people 
always  build  their  towns  on  hills?" 

"That  is  a  true  English  question,"  answered  L'Isle. 
"  At  home,  in  our  bleak  northern  climate,  AVC  natur 
ally  seek  sheltered  situations.  These  people  as  natur- 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH  LIFE.  159 

ally  select  an  airy  site,  above  the  parching  heat  and 
poisoned  air  of  the  valleys.  In  founding  colonies  in 
tropical  countries  we  English,  and  the  Dutch,  have 
constantly  blundered,  acting  as  if  still  at  home ;  and 
choosing  low  and  pestilential  spots,  establish  only 
hospitals  and  graveyards  where  we  meant  to  build 
towns ;  while  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  from 
the  instinct  of  habit,  select  the  most  salubrious  situa 
tions  within  their  reach.  Moreover,  high  points  are 
safer  from  attack,  and  stronger  to  resist  an  enemy ; 
and  the  Christians  of  the  peninsula  were  taught  by 
seven  centuries  of  conflict  with  the  Moors,  that  the 
safety  of  a  man's  house  is  the  first  point,  its  conve 
nience  the  second.  Now,  we  islanders  have  long 
been  but  a  half  military  people.  Content  with  incur- 
ing  the  guilt  of  war  abroad,  we  have  carefully  ab 
stained  from  bringing  it  home  to  our  own  doors." 

u  But  we  never  wage  any  but  just  wars,"  said  Lady 
Mabel. 

u  We,  at  least,"  said  L'Isle,  "  always  find  some 
plausible  grounds  on  which  to  justify  our  wars — to 
ourselves." 

They  were  now  on  the  outskirts  of  the  undulating 
plain,  on  which  a  rich  soil  overlying  the  granite 
rocks  extends  from  Evora  southward  to  the  city  of 
Beja.  The  signs  of  cultivation  and  population  multi 
plied  as  they  went  on.  The  fields  became  larger  and 
more  frequent ;  detached  farm  houses  were  seen  on 
either  hand,  and  they  fell  in  on  the  road  with  many 
peasants  riding  large  and  spirited  asses,  or  driving 


160  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

oxen  all  light  bays  with  enormous  horns,  and  so  sleek 
and  well  grown,  that  the  commissary  gazed  on  them 
with  admiring  eye  and  watering  mouth,  and  pronoun 
ced  them  equally  fit  for  the  yoke  or  the  shambles. 

It  was  a  relief  to  find  themselves  once  more  in  a 
cultivated  country,  and  Lady  Mabel  gazed  round,  ad 
miring  the  prospect.  "  There  is,"  she  observed,  "  one 
drawback  to  the  landscape.  At  home,  one  of  the 
most  enlivening  features  in  our  rural  scenes,  are  the 
white  sheep  scattered  on  the  hills,  but  here  they  are 
almost  black." 

"  But  the  goats  you  see  are  generally  white,"  an 
swered  L'Isle.  "It  is,  too,  the  more  picturesque  ani 
mal,  and  well  supplies  what  is  wanting  in  the  sheep." 

Evora  was  at  hand.  L'Isle  launched  out  into  an 
erudite  discourse  on  the  aqueduct  of  Sertorius,  which, 
stretching  its  long  line  of  arches  from  the  neighboring 
hills,  was  converging  with  their  road  to  the  city.  As 
they  entered  it  he  was  giving  Lady  Mabel  all  the 
pros  and  cons,  as  to  whether  it  was  really  the  work  of 
that  redoubtable  Roman.  The  commissary  was  luxu 
riously  anticipating  the  shade  and  rest  before  him, 
when  to  his  surprise  and  regret,  L'Isle  led  the  party 
another  way,  and  halted  them  before  a  small  but 
striking  building,  which  here  crowned  the  aqueduct 
at  its  termination  in  the  city. 

"  Look,  Lady  Mabel.  Observe  it  well,  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge.  This  castellum  is  a  miniature  embodiment  of 
Roman  taste  and  skill  in  architecture.  This  is  no 
ruin  calling  upon  the  imagination  to  play  the  hazard- 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  161 

ons  part  of  filling  up  the  gaps  made  by  the  hand  of 
time.  We  see  it  as  the  Moor,  the  Goth,  the  Roman 
saw  it,  save  the  loss  of  a  few  vases  which  adorned  the 
depressed  parapet,  and  the  scaling  plaster  which  here 
and  there  betrays  that  the  builder  used  that  cheap  but 
immortal  material,  the  Roman  brick." 

Much  did  Lady  Mabel  admire  this  architectural 
gem,  scarcely  tarnished  by  the  elements  in  nineteen 
centuries,  and  much  more  would  L'Isle  have  found  to 
say  of  it,  when  the  commissary,  impatiently  fanning 
himself  with  his  hat,  ventured  to  ask,  "how  much 
longer  shall  we  stay  broiling  in  the  noon-day  sun, 
staring  at  this  Roman  sentry-box  ?" 

"  Sentry-box !"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  with  a  puzzled 
air,  "  were  the  Romans  a  gigantic  people  ?" 

"  There  were  giants  in  those  days,"  said  Lady 
Mabel,  gravely,  gazing  on  the  castellum.  But  a 
crowd  of  idlers  and  beggars  began  to  collect  around 
the  cavalcade,  and  turning,  they  rode  off,  and  were 
soon  enjoying  the  shelter,  if  not  the  more  substantial 
hospitality,  of  the  Estalagem  de  San  Antonio. 


162  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Tell  me,  recluse  Monastic,  can  it  be 

A  disadvantage  to  thy  beams  to  shine  ? 

A  thousand  tapers  may  gain  light  from  thee : 
Is  thy  light  less  or  worse  for  lighting  mine? 

If,  wanting  light,  I  stumble,  shall 

Thy  darkness  not  be  guilty  of  my  fall? 

Make  not  thyself  a  prisoner,  thou  art  free : 
"Why  dost  thou  turn  thy  palace  to  a  jail? 

Thou  art  an  eagle ;  and  befits  it  thee 
To  live  immured  like  a  cloister'd  snail? 

Let  toys  seek  corners :  things  of  cost 

Gain  worth  by  view ;  hid  jewels  are  but  lost. 

FRANCIS  QUARLES. 

In  the  afternoon,  the  commissary  going  out  in 
search  of  the  objects  of  his  journey,  grain  and  bul 
locks  for  the  troops,  L'Isle  strolled  out  with  the 
ladies  to  survey  the  curiosities  of  Evora,  and  Moodie 
followed  closely  Lady  Mabel's  steps. 

"  If  I  am  to  play  the  part  of  cicerone"  said  L'Isle, 
"  I  will  begin  by  reminding  you  that  the  history  of 
many  races  and  eras  is  indissolubly  connected  with 
the  Peninsula,  and  especially  the  southern  part  of  it. 
Here  we  find  the  land  of  Tarshish  of  Scripture,  so 
well  known  to  the  Phoenicians,  who,  in  an  adjacent 
province  of  Spain,  built  another  Sidon,  and  founded 
Cadiz  before  Hector  and  Achilles  fought  at  Troy. 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  163 

Yet  they  found  the  Celto-Iberian  here  before  them — 
who  after  that  built  Evora,  according  to  Portuguese 
historians,  some  eight  or  ten  centuries  before  Christ. 
The  Greeks,  too,  stretched  their  commerce  and  their 
colonies  to  this  land.  The  Carthaginians  made  them 
selves  masters  of  this  country.  The  Romans  turned 
them  out,  to  give  place  in  time  to  the  Vandals ;  who 
were  driven  over  into  Africa  by  the  Goths — whose 
dominion  was,  at  the  end  of  two  centuries,  overthrown 
by  the  Arabs ;  who,  after  a  war  of  seven  centuries, 
were  expelled  in  turn  by  the  descendants  of  their 
Gothic  rivals.  The  land  still  shows  many  traces  of 
these  revolutions.  In  the  neighborhood  of  this  city 
the  rude  altar  of  the  Druid  still  commemorates  the 
early  Celt.  The  majesty  of  the  Roman  temple  here 
forms  a  singular  contrast  with  the  delicacy  of  the  Ara 
bian  monuments,  and  the  Gothic  architecture  with 
the  simplicity  of  the  modern  edifices." 

"  A  truly  Ciceronian  introduction  to  your  duties  as 
cicerone"  said  Lady  Mabel.  " But  I  have  yet  to  see 
much  that  you  describe  so  eloquently.  To  my  eye 
the  most  striking  feature  of  Evora  at  this  day  is  its 
ecclesiastical  aspect.  It  is  full  of  churches,  chapels, 
and  monkish  barracks,  and  seems  to  be  held  by  a 
strong  garrison  of  these  soldiers  of  the  Pope." 

"  Baal's  prophets  are  four  hundred  and  fifty  men," 
said  old  Moodie,  in  loud  soliloquy  behind. 

"I  have  often  heard  the  Pope  called  Antichrist,  but 
never  knew  him  dubbed  Baal  before,"  said  Lady 
Mabel.  "  Although  not  one  of  his  fiock,  I  cannot  but 


164  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  head  of  the  Latin  Church, 
now  that  the  venerable  old  man  is  so  shamefully 
treated  ;  carried  off  and  kept  a  prisoner  in  France,  to 
be  bullied,  threatened,  and  cajoled,  with  a  view  to  ap 
propriate  the  papal  influence  to  the  furtherance  of 
this  Corsican's  ambition." 

"  You  had  better  leave  all  those  feelings  to  his  own 
flock,  my  lady." 

"Is  it  possible,  Moodie,"  Lady  Mabel  retorted, 
"  that  you  do  not  know  that  we  are  on  the  Pope's 
side  in  this1  quarrel  ?  We  are  bound  to  sympathize 
with  him,  not  only  in  politics  but  in  religion,  against 
his  unbelieving  enemies.  We  must  forget  all  minor 
differences,  and  think  only  of  the  faith  we  hold  in 
common.  Even  you  must  admit  that  it  is  better  to 
see  the  Almighty  dimly  through  mists  and  clouds, 
or  even  though  our  view  be  obstructed  by  a  crowd  of 
doubtful  saints,  than  to  turn  our  backs  on  the  Chris 
tian  Godhead,  and  deny  his  existence  like  these  god 
less  French.  I  assure  you  I  have  become  a  strong 
friend  to  the  Pope." 

"  The  more  is  the  pity,"  groaned  Moodie.  "  But 
what  is  written  is  written." 

"  I  know,  Moodie,  that  you  believe  that  we  who 
have  deserted  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  and  crossed  the 
border  in  search  of  a  church,  have  already  traveled  a 
long  way  toward  Rome." 

"  About  half-way,  my  lady.  The  church  of  Eng 
land  is  no  abiding  place,  but  merely  an  inn  on  that 
road." 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  165 

"  "Why,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  is  Moodie  so 
much  dissatisfied  with  our  church  ?  For  my  part  it 
does  not  seem  natural  to  me  for  genteel  people  to  go 
any  where  else." 

"  You  may  find,  madam,"  said  Moodie,  "  a  great 
many  genteel  people  going  some  where  else.  Gentry 
is  no  election  to  grace." 

Mrs.  Shortridge  resented  the  insinuation  by  indig 
nant  silence;  but  Lady  Mabel,  who  had  her  own 
object  in  exasperating  Moodie's  sectarian  zeal,  now 
asked  him  :  "  What  is  the  last  symptom  of  back 
sliding  you  have  seen  in  me  ?" 

"It  seems  to  me,  my  lady,  that  you  are  getting 
strangely  intimate  with  the  Romish  faith  and  rites, 
for  one  who  does  not  believe  and  practice  them.  It 
is  a  sinful  curiosity,  like  that  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
which  first  made  them  familiar  with  the  abomina 
tions  among  their  neighbors,  then  led  them  to  practice 
the  idolatries  they  had  witnessed." 

"  But  may  there  not  be  something  sinful,  Moodie, 
in  denouncing  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  the  Ro 
manists,  without  having  thoroughly  searched  them 
out?" 

"  We  know  the  great  heads  of  their  offense — their 
perversion  of  gospel  truth — their  teaching  for  doc 
trine  the  commandments  of  men.  There  is  no  need 
to  trace  every  error  through  all  its  dark  and  crooked 
windings.  Truth  is  one :  that  God  has  allotted  to 
his  elect.  Errors  are  manifold,  and  sown  broadcast 
among  the  reprobate." 


166  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  Still  it  must  matter  much  what  degree  and  kind 
of  error  falls  to  our  lot,"  Lady  Mabel  suggested. 

"  Perhaps  so,"  Moodie  answered,  with  doubting  as 
sent.  "  Yet  if  we  are  not  in  the  one  true  path^  it  may 
matter  little  which  wrong  road  we  travel." 

"Well,  Moodie,"  said  she,  "however  much  you 
may  narrow  down  your  Christian  faith,  you  shall  not 
hedge  in  my  Christian  charity,  and  deprive  me  of  all 
sympathy  for  the  Pope  in  this  his  day  of  persecu 
tion." 

"  Whatever  the  holy  father's  errors  may  have 
been,"  said  L'Isle,  "  we  may  now  say  of  him,  a  pris 
oner  in  France,  what  was  said  of  Clement  the  Seventh, 
when  shut  up  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  c  Papa  non 
potest  err  are?  ' 

"  That  is  Latin,  Moodie,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  and 
to  enlighten  your  ignorance  it  may  be  rendered,  '  The 
Pope  cannot  err.'  ' 

"Why  that  is  nothing  but  the  doctrine  of  the 
Pope's  infallibility,"  exclaimed  Moodie,  indignantly  ; 
"  and  saying  it  in  Latin  cannot  make  it  true."  And 
he  dropped  behind  the  party. 

Gazing  on  the  number  of  religious  houses  and 
habits  around  them,  Lady  Mabel  said:  "Monastic 
life  must  hold  forth  strong  allurements.  The  monks 
seem  to  find  it  easy  to  recruit  their  ranks." 

"  Many  motives  combine  to  draw  men  into  the 
church,"  L'Isle  answered.  "Devotion  may  be  the 
chief;  but,  in  this  climate  and  country,  the  love  of 
ease,  and  the  want  of  hopeful  prospects  in  secular 


THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  167 

life,  exercise  great  influence.  Moreover,  one  monk, 
like  one  soldier,  serves  as  a  decoy  to  another.  Did 
you  ever  see  a  recruiting  sergeant,  in  all  his  glory, 
among  a  party  of  rustics  at  a  village  alehouse?  How 
skillfully  he  displays  the  bright  side  of  a  soldier's  life, 
while  hiding  every  dark  spot.  The  church  has  many 
a  recruiting  sergeant,  who  can  put  the  best  of  ours  to 
shame.  Many  a  recruit,  too,  like  our  young  friar,  is 
caught  very  young." 

They  had  now  turned  into  another  street,  and 
L'Isle,  stopping  the  party,  pointed  out  a  large  build 
ing  opposite  to  them. 

"  What  a  curious  mixture  of  styles  it  presents," 
said  Mrs.  Shortridge. 

"What  a  barbarous  mutilation  of  a  work  of  art," 
exclaimed  Lady  Mabel. 

"  This  is,  or  rather  was,"  said  L'Isle,  "  the  temple  of 
Diana,  built  before  the  Christian  era,  perhaps  while 
Sertorius  yet  lorded  it  in  the  Peninsula,  and  made 
Evora  his  headquarters.  The  architect,"  continued 
he,  looking  at  it  with  the  eye  of  a  connoisseur,  "  was 
doubtless  a  Greek.  Time,  and  the  mutilations  and 
additions  of  the  Moor,  have  not  effaced  all  the  beauty 
of  this  structure,  planned  by  the  genius  and  reared  by 
the  hands  of  men  who  lived  nineteen  centuries  ago. 
The  rubble  work  and  plaster  wall  that  fills  the  space 
between  those  columns,  so  requisite  in  their  propor 
tions — the  pinnacles  which  crown  the  structure  in 
place  of  the  entablature  which  has  been  destroyed, 
are  the  work  of  the  Moors,  who  strove  in  vain  to  unite 


168  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

in  harmony  their  own  style  of  building  with  that  of 
their  Roman  predecessors.  Enough  remains  to  show 
the  chaste,  beautiful,  and  permanent  character  of 
the  edifices  of  that  classic  age." 

After  gazing  long  with  deep  interest  on  this  monu 
ment  of  the  palmy  days  and  wide-spread  sway  of  the 
Roman,  Lady  Mabel  said  :  "  Let  us  see  if  there  be  not 
still  left  within  the  building  some  remains  of  a  piece 
with  so  noble  an  exterior." 

" Unhappily,"  answered  L'Isle,  "all  is  changed 
there.  Moreover,  though  the  sacrifices  are  continued, 
they  are  no  longer  conducted  with  the  decorum  of  the 
heathen  rites.  The  temple  of  the  chaste  goddess  is 
now  the  public  shambles  of  the  city,  defiled  through 
out  by  brutal  butchers,  with  the  blood  and  offals  of 
the  slaughtered  herd.". 

"Is  it  possible!"  Lady  Mabel  exclaimed.  "Have 
these  people  stink  so  low  ?  Is  so  little  taste,  learn 
ing,  and  reverence  for  high  art  left  among  them,  that 
they  can  find  no  better  use  for  this  rare  memorial  of 
the  past." 

"No  people  have  proved  themselves  so  destitute  of 
taste,  and  of  reverence  for  antiquity,  as  the  Portu 
guese,"  replied  L'Isle.  "They  seem  to  have  found  it 
a  pleasure,  or  deemed  it  a  duty,  to  erase  the  footprints 
of  ancient  art.  Monuments  of  all  kinds,  beautiful 
and  rare,  and  but  lightly  touched  by  the  hand  of 
time,  have  been  ruthlessly  destroyed  here.  To  give 
you  a  single  instance  :  A  gentleman  of  the  family  of 
the  Mascarenhas,  who  had  traveled  in  Italy,  and  ac- 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  169 

quired  a  taste  for  the  arts,  collected  from  different 
parts  about  the  town  of  Mertola,  twelve  ancient 
statues,  with  a  view  to  place  them  on  pedestals  in  his 
country-house.  But  he  dying  before  completing  his 
intention,  these  admirable  productions  of  Eoman  art, 
the  venerable  representations  of  heroes  and  sages, 
were  hurled  into  a  lime  kiln  to  make  cement  for  the 
chapel  of  St.  John.  And  such  acts  of  Vandalism 
have  been  perpetrated  throughout  Portugal." 

"  The  barbarians  !"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel.  "The 
ignorance  they  condemn  themselves  to,  is  scarce  pun 
ishment  enough  for  the  offence." 

"It  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  they  have  de 
stroyed,"  continued  L'Isle.  "But,  beside  the  voice 
of  history,  proofs  enough  remain  that  Evora  was,  in 
the  days  of  Sertorius,  of  Caesar,  and  in  after-times,  a 
favorite  spot  with  the  Romans.  This  temple  before 
us,  mutilated  as  it  is,  and  the  aqueduct,  though  re 
paired  in  modern  times,  are  still  Roman;  and  no  an 
cient  monument  in  Italy  is  in  better  preservation 
than  the  beautiful  little  castellum  which  crowns  its 
termination.  Even  where  Roman  buildings  have 
been  destroyed  we  still  see  around  us  the  stones  with 
ancient  and  classic  inscriptions  built  into  new  walls. 
The  plough,  too,  of  the  husbandman  still  at  times 
turns  up  the  coins  of  Sertorius,  bearing  a  profile 
showing  the  wound  he  had  received  in  his  eye,  while 
the  reverse  represents  his  favorite  hind  leaning  against 
a  tree." 

"  How  completely  do  these  things  carry  us  back  to 


170  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

ancient  times,  and  make  even  Plutarch's  novels  seem 
verities  of  real  life,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  These  same 
llomans,  whom  we  read  of  and  wonder  at,  have  in 
deed  left  behind  them,  wherever  they  came,  foot-prints 
indelibly  stamped  on  the  face  of  the  coimtry." 

"  They  did  more,"  said  L'Isle,  "  wherever  civiliza 
tion  extends,  they  still  set  their  marks  upon  the  minds 
of  men." 

"  How  barbarous  seem  the  Moorish  buildings,  which 
we  still  see  here  and  at  Elvas,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"  compared  with  these  monuments  of  a  yet  earlier 
day." 

"The  Moors  had  a  style. of  their  own,"  said  L'Isle. 
"Indifferent  to  external  decoration,  they  reserved  all 
their  ingenuity  for  the  interior  of  their  edifices.  Stim 
ulated  by  a  sensuous  religion  and  a  luxurious  climate, 
they  there  lavished  whatever  was  calculated  to  de 
light  the  senses,  and  accord  with  a  sedentary  and 
voluptuous  life.  They  sought  a  shady  privacy  amidst 
sparkling  fountains,  artificial  breezes,  and  sweet  smel 
ling  plants  ;  amidst  brilliant  colors  and  a  profusion  of 
ornaments,  seen  by  a  light  sobered  from  the  glare  of  a 
southern  sun.  Numberless  were  the  luxurious  pal 
aces  the  Moors  reared  in  Portugal  and  Spain.  The 
Alhambra  yet  stands  a  model  of  their  excellence  in 
the  arts ;  although  many  of  its  glories  have  departed, 
its  walls  have  become  desolate,  and  many  of  them 
fallen  into  ruin,  though  its  gardens  have  been  de 
stroyed,  and  its  fountains  ceased  to  play.  Charles  V. 
commenced  a  palace  within  the  enclosure  of  the  Ai- 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  171 

hambra,  in  rivalry  of  what  he  found  there.  It  stands 
but  an  arrogant  intrusion,  and  is  already  in  a  state  of 
dilapidation  far  beyond  the  work  of  the  Arabs.  In 
them  the  walls  remain  unaltered,  except  by  injuries 
inflicted  by  the  hand  of  man.  The  colors  of  the 
painting,  in  which  there  is  no  mixture  of  oil,  pre 
serve  all  their  brightness — the  beams  and  wood  work 
of  the  ceilings  show  no  signs  of  decay.  The  art  of 
rendering  timber  and  paints  durable,  and  of  making 
porcelain  mosaics,  arabesques,  and  other  ornaments, 
began  and  ended  in  western  Europe  with  the  Spanish 
Arabs.  But  perhaps  the  most  curious  achievement 
attributed  to  them  is,  that  spiders,  flies,  and  other 
insects,  shunned  their  apartments  at  all  seasons." 

"What!"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel,  "had  they  at 
tained  that  perfection  in  the  art  of  building?  Could 
they  exercise  those  hordes  of  little  demons,  lay  a  spell 
upon  them  and  turn  them  out  of  doors?  Had  you 
told  me  this  yesterday  I  would  have  been  less  im- 
pr^ssed  by  it.  But,  after  last  night's  ordeal,  I  vene 
rate  the  Moor.  Almost  I  regret  the  expulsion  of  his 
cleanly  superstition,  since  it  has  carried  with  it  into 
exile  so  rare  an  art." 

Mrs.  Shortridge,  too,  seemed  fully  to  appreciate  the 
value  of  the  lost  art,  and  said,  "  these  Moors  must  in 
deed  have  been  a  very  comfortable  people." 

"And  they  crowned  their  comfort  in  this  world," 
said  L'Isle,  "  by  inventing  an  equally  comfortable 
system  for  the  next." 

"  Is  it  not  strange,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  gazing  on 


172  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

the  building  before  them,  "  that  the  production  of  two 
races,  each  so  skillful,  should  be  so  utterly  incompati 
ble.  Classic  and  Saracenic  art,  both  beautiful,  united 
make  a  monster." 

"  Not  so  strange,"  L'Isle  answered,  "  as  the  simplic 
ity  of  the  Mohammedan  faith,  amidst  all  that  is 
fantastic  in  arts  and  letters — a  grotesque  architecture, 
a  wondrous  alchemy,  the  extravagant  in  poetry  and 
the  supernatural  in  fiction  ;  or  the  purity  of  classic 
art,  characterized  by  simplicity  and  proportion,  yet 
drawing  its  inspiration  from  a  wild  and  copious  myth 
ology,  made  up  of  the  sportive  creations  of  fancy." 

"  They  were  a  wonderful  people,  these  Romans,  as 
even  this  obscure  corner  of  Europe  can  witness,"  paid 
Lady  Mabel,  her  eyes  dwelling  on  the  beautiful  colo- 
nade,  and  tracing  out  the  exquisite  symmetry  of  the 
shafts,  and  the  rich  foliage  of  the  Corinthian  capitals. 

"Were  these  Romans  Christians?"  asked  Moedie, 
who  had  hitherto  looked  on  in  silence. 

"  JSTo,"  she  answered,  "  they  worshipped  many  false 
gods." 

"Then  they  were  just  like  all  the  Romans  I  have 
known,"  said  he  dryly,  and  turned  his  back  on  the 
temple. 

"  Come,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  let  us  take  Mood- 
ie's  hint,  and  look  for  something  else  worth  seeing." 

As  they  continued  their  walk,  L'Isle  remarked, 
"In  many  a  place  in  the  peninsula  we  find  a  Roman 
aqueduct,  a  Moorish  castle,  and  a  Gothic  cathedral 
standing  close  together,  yet  ages  apart.  How  much 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  173 

of  history  is  embraced  in  this?  We  have  just  been 
gazing  upon  the  mouldering  remains  of  two  phases 
of  civilization,  which  were  at  their  height,  one,  while 
our  forefathers  were  yet  heathen  and  almost  savage, 
the  other,  while  they  were  but  emerging  from  a  rude 
barbarism.  We  should  never  forget  that  this  penin 
sula  was  the  high  road  which  arts  and  letters  traveled 
on  their  progress  into  Western  Europe,  arid  to  our 
own  land." 

"  We  are  much  indebted  to  letters  and  the  arts  for 
the  unanimity  with  which  they  came  on  to  us;  for 
certainly,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  looking  round  her,  "  little 
of  either  appears  to  have  loitered  behind.  Every 
object  around  us  makes  the  impression  of  a  country 
and  a  people  who  have  seen  better  days ;  and  you 
cannot  help  wondering  and  fearing  where  this  down 
ward  path  may  end." 

"  The  history  of  humanity  is  not  always  the  story 
of  progress,"  said  L'lsle ;  "  one  nation  may  be  like  a 
young  barbarian,  his  face  turned  toward  civilization, 
gazing  on  it  with  dazzled  but  admiring  eyes ;  an 
other,  a  scowling,  hoary  outlaw,  turning  his  back  on 
human  culture  and  social  order'." 

"  Your  young  barbarian,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  makes 
the  more  pleasing  picture  of  the  two." 

"  Are  there  your  hoary  outlaws  ?"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Shortridge,  as  a  party  of  beggars  from  the  door  of  the 
Franciscan  church  hobbled  toward  them,  and  beset 
them  for  alms. 

"  Oh,  no !"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  they  are  angels  in 


174  THE  ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

disguise,  tempting  us  to  deeds  of  charity  ;"  and  with 
the  devout  air  of  a  zealous  daughter  of  the  one  true 
church,  she  distributed  sundry  small  coin  among 
them.  "  Come,  Moodie,"  she  exclaimed,  "  I  know 
your  pocket  is  never  without  a  store  of  sixpences, 
those  canny  little  dogs,  that  often  do  the  work  of  shil 
lings.  Seize  the  occasion  of  doing  good  works,  of 
appropriating  to  yourself  a  meritorious  charity ;  for 
charity  covers  a  multitude  of  sins.  Lay  up  some 
treasure  in  heaven  without  loss  of  time." 

The  beggars,  on  this  hint,  surrounded  Moodie ;  but 
he,  repudiating  such  perversion  of  Scripture  doctrine, 
shook  them  off  with  little  ceremony.  And  the  beg 
gars'  instinct  saw,  in  his  hard,  indignant  face,  no  hope 
of  alms. 

"  If  you  will  give  nothing,  at  least  buy  something," 
said  Lady  Mabel ;  "  that  fellow  bawling  at  you  pelas 
alinas,  is  offering  snuff'  for  sale ;  and  the  love  of  snuff", 
at  least,  is  common  ground  to  Scot  and  Portuguese." 

Thus  urged,  Moodie  paid  liberally  for  a  package, 
and  was  putting  it  in  his  pocket,  when  Lady  Mabel  ex 
claimed,  "You  do  not  know,  Moodie,  what  a  chari 
table  and  Christian  deed  you  have  done.  Everything 
is  done  in  Portugal  pelo  amor  de  Deos  e  pelas  alma*. 
That  fellow  is  employed  by  the  priests  to  sell  snuff* 
pelas  almas,  and  all  the  profits  of  the  trade  go  to  re 
lease  souls  from  purgatory." 

"  Purgatory  !"  exclaimed  Moodie,  "  I  will  not  be 
tricked  into  countenancing  that  popish  abomination  ;" 
and  he  hurled  the  package  back  to  the  man,  who  glad- 


THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  175 

ly  picked  it  up,  and  turned  to  seek  a  second  pur 
chaser. 

As  they  walked  on  toward  the  church  of  the  Fran 
ciscans,  Mrs.  Shortridge  said,  "Yon  need  not  fear  a 
scarcity  of  objects  of  charity,  Lady  Mabel,  for  poverty 
seems  rife  in  Evora." 

"  Yet,  from  the  number  of  churches  and  monasteries, 
there  must  be  much  wealth,"  Lady  Mabel  answered. 
"  Probably,  most  of  the  property  is  in  their  possession, 
and  we  may  expect  to  see  in  their  shrines  and  altars  a 
gorgeous  display  of  their  riches." 

"You  will  be  disappointed  in  that,"  said  L'Isle. 
"Evora  has  passed  too  lately  through  the  hands  of 
the  French,  too  systematic  a  people  to  do  things  by 
halves.  Their  emperor  is  more  systematic  still.  On 
taking  possession  of  Portugal,  his  first  edict  from  Mi 
lan  imposed  a  war-contribution  on  the  country  of  one 
hundred  million  of  francs,  as  a  ransom  for  private  prop 
erty  of  every  kind.  This  being  somewhat  more  than 
all  the  money  in  the  country,  allowed  a  sufficiently 
wide  margin  for  spoliation,  without  making  private 
property  a  whit  the  safer  for  it ;  the  imperial  coffers 
absorbed  this  public  contribution,  leaving  the  French 
officers  and  soldiers  to  fill  their  pockets  and  make  their 
fortunes  as  they  could." 

"  But  what  was  there  left  to  fill  their  pockets  with  ?" 
Lady  Mabel  asked. 

"  There  must  have  been  a  plenty  left,"  said  Mrs. 
Shortridge.  "One  does  not  know  the  wealth  of  a 
country  till  you  plunder  it.  Even  some  of  our  fellows, 


176  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

though  they  came  as  friends,  still  continue  occasionally 
to  pocket  a  useful  thing.  The  officers  cannot  put  a 
stop  to  it  altogether,  do  what  they  may." 

"  But,  with  some  exceptions,"  said  L'Isle,  "  each 
French  general  levied  contributions  on  his  own  ac 
count.  Some  idea  of  the  amount  may  be  formed  from 
the  fact,  that  at  the  Convention  of  Ciritra,  Junot,  who 
had  probably  not  brought  baggage  enough  into  Portu 
gal  to  load  five  mules,  demanded  five  ships  for  the 
conveyance  of  his  private  property.  Yet  Soult's  ac 
cumulations  in  Andalusia  are  said  to  exceed  Junot's. 
Whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the  war,  many  a  French 
officer  will  have  made  his  fortune  here.  Well  did 
they  obey  the  injunction — 

"  '  See  thou  shake  the  bags 
Of  hoarding  abbots ;  angels  imprisoned 
Set  thou  at  liberty.' 

This  last,  though,  in  a  sense  different  from  the  poets  ; 
in  Lisbon  alone,  turning  thousands  of  nuns  into  the 
streets,  that  their  convents  might  be  converted  into 
barracks.  In  obedience  to  the  imperial  decree,  all  the 
gold  and  silver  of  the  churches,  chapels,  and  frater 
nities  of  the  city  were  carried  off  to  the  mint;  and,  in 
this  day  of  sweeping  confiscation,  individuals  did  not 
forget  themselves.  Indeed,  throughout  the  country, 
the  French  soldier  proved  that  he  had  the  eye  of  a 
lynx,  the  scent  of  a  hound,  and  the  litheness  of  a  fer 
ret  after  booty,  trained  to  it  by  the  system  which  makes 
the  war  support  the  war.  But  Evora  has  been  partic 
ularly  unlucky.  It  not  only  bore  its  full  share  of  the 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  177 

first  burden  imposed  on  the  country,  but  the  year 
after,  when  the  Portuguese,  rising  too  late  in  armed 
resistance,  lost  a  battle  before  the  town,  the  French, 
entering  with  the  fugitives,  massacred  nearty  a  thou 
sand  persons,  many  of  them  women  and  children,  in 
cluding  some  forty  priests,  a  class  they  made  the  es 
pecial  objects  of  their  vengeance;  and  they  plundered 
the  town  so  thoroughly,  that  the  very  cracks  in  the 
walls  did  not  escape  their  search.  The  best  excuse 
that  can  be  made  for  their  plunderings  is,  that  in  the 
confusion  of  their  own  revolution  they  so  completely 
lost  the  idea  of  property,  that  though  they  have  re 
covered  the  thing,  they  have  not  yet  remastered  the 
idea  of  it." 

A  number  of  friars  now  coming  out  of  the  church 
attracted  Mrs.  Shortridge's  attention.  But  Lady  Ma 
bel  had  an  English  woman's  ear  for  French  atrocities, 
and  continued  the  conversation : 

"  I  can  understand  that  a  needy  and  ignorant  sol 
diery  may  perpetrate  such  robberies  amidst  scenes  of 
violence,  and  under  the  temptations  of  want ;  but  we 
expect  better  things  from  the  men  who  lead  them." 

"  That  supposes  these  men  to  be  of  a  different  class, 
with  different  education  and  habits  from  the  common 
soldier.  The  revolution  and  conscription  has  leveled 
all  those  distinctions.  Many  a  youth  of  good  birth 
and  education  is  made  to  bear  his  musket  in  the  ranks, 
and  does  not  elevate  his  comrades  to  his  standard,  but 
is  soon  degraded  to  the  level  of  their  sentiments  and 
habits.  Many  a  French  general,  for  instance  Junot, 
8  • 


178  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

has  been  raised  from  the  ranks.  Military  merit  or 
accident  has  elevated  them  to  command  without  a  cor 
responding  elevation  of  sentiment  or  principles.  It  is 
not  easy  to  make  a  gentleman  in  one  generation : 
somebody  says,  it  takes  three." 

"  What  a  moderate  man  that  somebody  was  !"  said 
Lady  Mabel ;  "  I  thought  that  the  gentry  of  a  country 
were  like  its  timber,  the  slow  growth  of  centuries,  and 
that  the  beginning  of  nobility  must  be  lost  in  the  dark 
ages,  unless  3^011  can  find  some  great  statesman,  war 
rior,  or  freebooter  of  later  date  to  start  from." 

"  But,"  said  L'Isle,  laughing,  "  we  find  men  whose 
pedigree  fulfills  your  requisitions,  who  are  not  gentle 
men  in  their  own  persons.  The  son  of  a  gentleman  is 
too  often  one  only  in  name." 

"  I  think,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  reflecting,  "  I  have 
myself  met  with  more  than  one  gentleman  rogue." 

"  That  is  impossible,"  said  L'Isle,  "  for  a  gentleman 
is  a  superstructure  which  can  be  built  on  only  one 
foundation — an  honest  man." 

"  We  had  better  stop  defining  the  gentleman,"  said 
Lady  Mabel,  "  lest  between  us  we  narrow  down  the 
class,  until  there  are  not  enough  left  to  officer  a  re 
giment,  or  for  any  other  useful  purpose." 

"  This  is  a  fine  old  building,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge, 
peeping  into  the  church,  "  and  it  will  be  a  convenient 
time  to  look  at  it,  for  it  seems  quite  empty." 

"It  is  not  much  worth  seeing,"  said  L'Isle,  "but 
there  is  something  beyond  it  which  I  would  like  to 
show  you." 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  179 

They  walked  into  it ;  but  Moodie  at  first  hung  back, 
and  hesitated  to  enter  this  idolatrous  temple,  until, 
luckily  remembering  the  prophet's  permission  to  Naa- 
man  the  Syrian  to  accompany  his  master  to  the  house 
of  Rimmon,  he  swallowed  his  scruples,  and  followed 
Lady  Mabel. 

Passing  through  the  church,  they  came  to  an  arch 
way,  over  which  was  inscribed — 

Nbs  os  ossos  que  aqui  estamos 
Pdos  vossos  esperamos. 

Passing  through  it,  they  found  themselves  in  a 
huge  vault,  its  arched  ceiling  supported  by  large  square 
piers,  which,  with  the  walls,  were  covered  with  hu 
man  skulls,  set  in  a  hard  cement.  By  the  dim  light 
they  saw  on  all  sides  thousands  of  ghastly  human 
heads,  grinning  at  them  in  death ;  the  only  signs  of 
life  being  a  few  crouching  devotees,  prostrate  before 
an  illuminated  shrine  at  the  extremity  of  this  Gol 
gotha. 

Both  ladies  paused,  awe-stricken.  Lady  Mabel 
turned  pale,  and  Mrs.  Shortridge,  after  gazing  round 
her  for  a  moment,  uttered  a  little  shriek,  and  covered 
her  face  with  her  hands.  To  face  these  objects  was 
painful  enough,  but  to  have  them  grinning  on  her,  as 
in  mockery,  behind  her  back,  was  more  than  she 
could  stand.  So  seizing  old  Moodie  by  the  arm,  he 
being  beside  her,  she  rushed  out  of  this  charnel  house, 
and  impatiently  called  to  the  others  to  join  her  in  the 
church. 

With  an  effort  Lady  Mabel  stifled  her  contagious 


180  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

terror,  and,  advancing  further  into  the  gloomy  re 
pository,  inspected  it  on  all  sides.  There  was  little 
room  left  on  the  walls  for  more  memorials  of  mor 
tality.  Having  in  silence  sated  her  curiosity  and  her 
sense  of  the  horrible,  feeling  all  the  while  a  strange 
reluctance  to  break  the  deathlike  stillness  of  the  place 
by  uttering  a  word,  she  at  length  rejoined  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge.  After  taking  another  look  into  this  apartment 
of  death,  her  eye  rested  on  the  inscription  over  the 
arch.  L'Isle  translated  it : 

Our  bones,  which  here  are  resting, 
Are  expecting  yours. 

"  God  forbid  that  mine  should  find  so  gloomy  a 
resting  place,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Shortridge,  with  a 
shudder. 

"  It  is  a  weakness,"  said  Lady  Mabel ;  "  yet  we 
must  shrink  from  this  promiscuous  mingling  of  our 
ashes,  and  are  even  choice  in  the  selection  of  our  last 
resting  place.  We  hope  even  in  death  to  rejoin  our 
kindred  dust  in  the  ancestral  vault,  or  at  least  to 
repose  under  some  sunny  spot,  in  the  churchyard  hal 
lowed  to  us  in  life.  Is  not  this  your  feeling?"  she 
said,  appealing  to  L'Isle. 

L'Isle  looked  grave.  "  It  is  a  natural  feeling  cling 
ing  to  our  mortal  nature,  and  doubtless  has  its  use. 
But  I  must  not  indulge  it.  The  soldier  is  even  less 
at  liberty  than  other  men  to  choose  his  own  grave. 
The  fosse  of  a  beleaguered  fortress,  a  shallow  trench 
in  a  well-fought  field,  the  ravine  of  a  disputed  rnoun- 


THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  181 

tain  pass,  the  strand  of  some  river  to  be  crossed  in 
the  face  of  the  enemy — all  these  have  furnished,  and 
will  furnish  graves  for  those  who  fall,  and  have  the 
luck  to  find  burial ;  the  wolf  and  the  vulture  provide 
for  the  rest.  We  have  a  wide  graveyard,"  he  added, 
more  cheerfully,  "  stretching  from  hence  to  the  Pyr 
enees,  and,  perchance,  beyond  them.  It  embraces 
many  a  lovely  and  romantic  spot,  only  the  choice  of 
our  last  resting  place  is  not  left  to  ourselves." 

Lady  Mabel  shuddered  at  this  gloomy  picture,  and 
his  foreboding  tone.  She  knew  how  many  of  her 
countrymen  had  fallen,  and  must  fall,  in  this  bloody 
war.  Yet,  some  how  or  other,  she  had  always  thought 
of  L'Isle  as  one  who  was  to  live,  and  not  to  die  pre 
maturely,  cut  off  in  youth,  health,  the  pride  of  man 
hood,  his  hopes,  powers,  aspirations,  just  in  their 
bloom.  She  looked  at  him  with  deep,  painful  inter 
est,  as  if  to  read  his  fortune  in  his  face.  What  special 
safeguard  protected  him?  The  next  moment  her  con 
science  pricked  her,  when  her  father's  image  rose  before 
her,  grown  gray  in  service,  and  seamed  with  scars, 
yet  no  safer  by  all  his  dangers  past  than  the  last  re 
cruit,  and  she  walked  slowly  forth  from  the  Franciscan 
church  with  sadder  and  more  solemn  impressions  of 
the  reality  and  imminence  of  death  than  could  be 
generated  by  all  that  vast  array  of  grinning  skulls. 

It  was  growing  late$  and  they  turned  toward  the 
estalagem.  As  they  strolled  on,  L'Isle,  in  the  same 
train  of  thought  which  had  last  occupied  them,  said  : 
"  War  is  essentially  a  greedy  thing,  a  great  and 


182  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

speedy  consumer  of  what  has  been  slowly  produced 
in  peace.  We  hear  of  veteran  armies,  but  an  army 
of  veterans  does  not,  perhaps  never  existed.  We  col 
lect  materials  and  munitions  of  war,  expecting  to  ex 
pend  them  in  military  operations ;  but  we  are  not 
aware,  until  we  have  tried  it,  how  close  a  parallel 
there  is  between  the  fates  of  the  inanimate  and  the 
living  constituents  that  furnish  forth  an  army  for  the 
field.  It  is  not  the  sword  chiefly  that  kills  ;  the  hos 
pital  swallows  more  than  the  battle-field.  After  a 
few  campaigns,  what  has  been  falsely  called  the  skele 
ton,  but  is,  in  truth,  the  soul  of  an  army,  the  remnant  of 
experienced  officers  and  tried  soldiers,  only  remains, 
and  new  flesh,  blood,  and  bones  must  be  provided  for 
this  soul,  in  the  shape  of  new  levies.  When  we  see 
an  old  soldier  glorying  in  his  score  of  campaigns,  we 
should  call  to  mind  the  score  of  youths  prematurely 
covered  by  the  sod." 

"Few,  then,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "can  enjoy  Gon- 
salvo  of  Cordova's  fortune.  On  retiring  to  a  monas 
tery,  he  avowed  that  every  soldier  needed  for  repent 
ance  an  interval  of  some  years  between  his  life  and 
his  death." 

"The  great  captain's  conscience  must  have  pricked 
him,"  said  L'Isle,  "  when  he  made  that  speech.  An 
unjust  war,  or  a  war  unjustly  waged,  lay  heavy  on 
him.  A  soldier  knows  the  likelihood  of  his  dying  in 
his  vocation.  If  he  think^'t  criminal,  let  him  abandon 
it.  Up  to  this  day  my  conscience  has  not  troubled 
me  on  that  score.  War,  always  an  evil,  is  often  a 


THE  ACTRESS   IN"  HIGH  LIFE.  183 

necessity ;  and  I  wonder  whether,  after  an  hundred 
years  of  peace,  we  would  not  find  nations  worse  and 
more  worthless  than  they  now  are." 

Mrs.  Shortridge  now  called  their  attention  to  the 
number  of  storks  in  the  air.  The  sun  had  set,  and 
these  grave  birds  were  seeking  their  roosts;  every 
tower  of  church  and  monastery  affording  a  domicil  to 
some  feathered  family,  with  the  full  sanction  of  the 
biped  denizens  below. 

"  The  social  position  of  these  long-legged  gentry  all 
over  the  peninsula,"  said  L'Isle,  "  is  one  of  the  charac 
teristics  of  the  country.  It  is  astonishing  what  an 
amount  of  respect,  and  an  immunity  from  harm,  they 
enjoy.  I  am  afraid  they  would  fare  worse  at  the 
hands  of  the  more  brutal  part  of  our  English  popu 
lace.  They  are  useful,  too ;  but  are  more  indebted 
for  their  safety,  and  the  respect  shown  them  here,  to 
the  clerical  gravity  of  their  demeanor." 

They  had  now  reached  their  lodgings,  and  were 
soon  after  joined  by  the  commissary,  who  came  in 
rubbing  his  hands,  and  exclaiming :  "  Capital  bar 
gains  to  be  made  here  !  Corn  plenty,  and  bullocks 
that  would  make  a  figure  in  Smithfield.  Some  farm 
ers  have  not  threshed  last  year's  crop.  A  curious 
country  this:  one  province  starving,  and  plenty  in 
the  next.  It  is  all  owing  to  the  want  of  roads.  But, 
luckily,  Elvas  is  not  far  off." 

"  Yet  the  Romans,"  L'Isle  remarked,  "  had  once 
netted  over  the  whole  .Peninsula  with  roads." 

"  When  they  went   away,"  said   the  commissary, 


184  THE  *  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

"  the  first  thing  the  people  of  the  country  did,  I  sup 
pose,  was  to  let  them  go  to  ruin  in  true  Portuguese 
fashion." 

Shortridge  now  said  that  he  must  spend  some  days 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Evora,  and  that  the  party 
would  have  to  return  to  Elvas  without  him.  This 
being  agreed  to,  Lady  Mabel  suggested  that  they 
should  find  their  way  back  by  a  different  route,  and, 
on  consulting  the  muleteer,  they  found  that  it  could 
be  done  without  much  lengthening  their  journey. 


THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  185 


CHAPTER  XL 

Led  with  delight  they  thus  beguile  the  way 
****** 
When  weening  to  return  whence  they  did  stray, 
They  cannot  find  that  path,  which  first  was  showne, 
But  wander  to  and  fro  in  ways  unknown, 
Furthest  from  end  then,  when  they  nearest  weene, 
That  makes  them  doubt  their  wits  be  not  their  own, 
So  many  paths,  so  many  turning  seene, 
That  which  of  them  to  take  in  diverse  doubt  they  been. 

FAERIE  QUEENE. 

THE  party  mustered  early  the  next  morning  to  con 
tinue  their  journey,  and  after  breakfast  L'Isle  called 
for  the  innkeeper  to  pay  him  his  bill.  This  worthy, 
acting  on  the  natural  supposition  that  the  English 
had  come  into  the  country  to  indemnify  the  Portu 
guese  for  their  losses  at  the  hands  of  the  French,  at 
once  named  the  round  sum  of  sixty  crusados.  On 
L'Isle  looking  surprised,  he  began  to  run  over  so  long 
a  list  of  articles  furnished,  and  items  of  trouble  given, 
that  L'Isle,  who  was  annoyed  at  the  interruption  of 
an  agreeable  conversation  with  Lady  Mabel,  was 
about  to  pay  him  in  full  to  get  rid  of  him,  when  Short- 
ridge  peremptorily  interfered.  The  demand  was  ex 
tortionate  and  aroused  his  indignation.  Perhaps  he 
looked  upon  the  fellow  as  usurping  a  privilege  be- 
8* 


186  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

longing  peculiarly  to  the  commissary's  own  brother 
hood.  He  abused  the  man  roundly  in  very  bad  Por 
tuguese,  and  insisted  that  L'lsle  should  pay  him  but 
half  the  sum. 

The  innkeeper,  a  dark,  sallow  man,  with  a  vindic 
tive  countenance,  glared  on  him  as  if  fear  alone  with 
held  him  from  replying  with  his  knife.  When  he 
found  his  tongue,  he  began  to  answer  with  a  bitter 
ness  that  was  fast  changing  into  uncontrollable  rage  ; 
but  the  commissary,  who  was  a  master  in  the  art  of 
bullying,  cut  him  short. 

"This  fellow,"  said  he,  addressing  L'lsle,  but  still 
speaking  Portuguese,  "  has  three  line  mules  in  his 
stable.  I  shall  need  a  great  many  beasts  to  carry 
corn  to  Elvas,  and  will  apply  to  the  Juiz  de  Fora  to 
embargo  them  among  the  first." 

The  innkeeper  turned  as  pale  as  his  golden  skin 
permitted  at  the  bare  suggestion.  The  French  had 
made  a  similar  requisition  on  him  four  years  ago,  and 
when  he  followed  his  cattle  to  reclaim  them  after  the 
required  service,  he  got  only  sore  bones  and  a  broken 
head  for  his  pains. 

u  You  may  do  as  you  please  in  that  matter,"  said 
L'lsle,  throwing  on  the  table  half  the  sum  demanded, 
and  leaving  their  host  to  swallow  his  anger,  and  take 
it  up,  if  he  pleased. 

The  muleteer,  having  come  in  for  the  baggage,  on 
finding  out  the  nature  of  the  controversy,  now  poured 
out  a  flood  of  vociferous  eloquence  on  the  extortioner, 
denouncing  him  as  a  disgrace  to  the  nation,  and  no 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH  LIFE.  187 

true  Portuguese,  but  a  "New  Christian,  as  might  be 
seen  in  his  face ;  and  he  was  urgent  with  Shortridge 
to  let  him  show  him  the  way  to  the  house  of  the  Juiz 
de  Fora  without  loss  of  time. 

L'Isle's  commanding  air  and  contemptuous  indiffer 
ence  overawed  the  innkeeper  quite  as  much  as  Short- 
ridge's  threats.  So,  sweeping  the  money  into  his 
pocket,  he  went  out  hastily  to  find  a  safe  and  secret 
hiding  place  for  his  mules. 

"  Pray,"  said  Lady  Mabel  to  L'Isle,  while  they 
were  waiting  for  their  horses,  "  what  is  a  New  Chris 
tian  ?" 

"  The  explanation  of  the  term  does  not  tell  well  in 
the  history  of  the  country,"  said  he.  "  When  Fer 
dinand  arid  Isabella  expelled  the  Jews  from  Spain, 
many  of  them  took  refuge  here,  where  John  II.  gave 
them  shelter,  on  condition  that  they  should  quit  the 
kingdom  in  a  limited  time.  This  king  endeavored 
to  keep  faith  with  them.  Nevertheless,  in  his  and 
the  following  reign,  they  were  subjected  to  unceasing 
persecutions,  being  required  to  become  Christians,  or 
leave  the  country  ;  at  the  very  time  every  obstacle 
was  put  in  the  way  of  their  escape.  At  length  their 
children  were  taken  from  them  to  be  reared  in  the 
Christian  faith,  and  numbers  abjured  Judaism  in 
order  to  recover  possession  of  their  own  offspring. 
But  such  a  conversion  failed  not  to  furnish  for  many  a 
generation  a  crowd  of  hapless  inmates  for  the  'Tre 
mendous  House  of  the  Inquisition'  in  every  town. 
Even  in  the  last  century,  no  diversion  delighted  the 


188  THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

Lisbon  mob  like  the  burning  of  a  relapsed  Jew.  The 
usage  of  them  of  old  still  influences  the  condition  of 
the  country,  and  the  term  New  Christian  is  yet  a  by 
word  common  in  the  mouths  of  people." 

"  We  certainly  see  a  great  many  Jewish  faces 
among  the  Portuguese  Christians,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge. 

"  So  the  great  Marquis  de  Pombul  thought,"  L'Isle 
answered  ;  "  for  when  a  great  crowd  had  assembled 
to  see  him  open  a  fountain  he  had  erected  in  Lisbon, 
on  a  courtier's  saying,  *  See,  -my  Lord,  like  Moses,  you 
make  water  flow  from  the  rock  !'  '  Yes,'  replied  the 
marquis,  '  and  here  are  the  Jews  looking  at  me.' " 

" And  our  host,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "is  doubt 
less  one  of  these  New  Christians." 

"But  has  the  commissary,"  Lady  Mabel  asked,  "  a 
right  to  make  the  requisition  with  which  he  threatens 
him?" 

"  Not  on  his  own  authority,"  said  L'Isle,  laughing. 
"  But  these  people  would  well  deserve  that  we  should 
sweep  off  every  mule  and  yoke  of  oxen  around  Evora. 
Last  year  when  we  were  collecting  materials  for  the 
siege  of  Badajoz,  the  ungrateful  rascals  would  not  send 
a  single  cart  to  help  us." 

"Why,  were  we  not  fighting  their  battles?"  Lady 
Mabel  exclaimed.  "Would  they  not  assist  in  their 
own  defence?" 

"  Badajoz  is  not  within  sight  of  Evora,  and  that  was 
enough  for  these  short-sighted  patriots." 

"  Has  such  blind  selfishness  a  parallel  ?"  asked  Lady 
Mabel. 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  189 

"  Many,"  said  L'Isle.  "  We  may  at  times  find  one 
at  home,  in  the  wisdom  of  a  whig  ministry,  which 
consists  in  taking  a  microscopic  view  of  the  wrong  side 
of  things  just  under  their  noses." 

They  now  mounted  their  horses,  and  leaving  the 
praca,  had  entered  on  a  narrow  and  somewhat  crooked 
street,  where  they  suddenly  met  a  funeral  procession, 
with  its  priests,  crucifix  and  tapers,  the  dead  being 
carried  by  several  persons  on  a  bier,  and  followed  by 
a  few  peasants.  The  travelers  drew  up  their  horses 
close  to  the  adjacent  wall,  to  leave  room  for  the  pro 
cession.  The  face  of  the  dead  was  uncovered  as 
usual,  and  the  friar's  dress  which  clothed  the  body, 
with  the  rosaries  and  other  paraphernalia  displayed 
about  his  person,  led  Lady  Mabel  to  say,  "I  see  that 
one  of  the  good  fathers  is  gone  to  his  account." 

"  He  will  now  find  out,"  said  Moodie,  "  the  worth 
of  his  beads,  crucifix  and  holy  water." 

"  I  am  surprised,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  at  so  unpre 
tending  a  funeral,  in  the  case  of  a  member  of  the  great 
order  of  St.  Francis." 

L'Isle  asked  a  question  of  a  Portuguese  standing 
near,  and  then  said,  "The  cowl  does  not  make  the 
monk,  nor  must  you  infer  from  his  dress  that  this  man 
was  a  friar.  He  lived  all  his  life  a  peasant  in  a  neigh 
boring  village." 

"Indeed !"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel. 

"  Almost  every  one,"  said  L'Isle,  as  they  turned  to 
ride  on  their  way,  "  here  and  throughout  the  Penin 
sula,  is  buried  in  a  religious  habit — the  men  in  the 


190  THE   ACTRESS   IN   IIIGII   LIFE. 

uniform  of  friars,  the  women  dressed  like  pilgrims, 
and  the  girls  like  nuns.  They  are  loaded  with  a  freight 
of  rosaries,  agni  dei,  and  other  saintly  jewelry,  fasten 
ed  to  the  neck,  hands  and  feet,  and  stuffed  into  the 
clothes.  Convents  have  often  a  warehouse  appropri 
ated  to  this  posthumous  wardrobe,  in  the  sale  of  which 
they  drive  a  profitable  trade.  It  was  a  most  natural 
mistake  made  by  a  stranger,  who,  after  being  a  few 
weeks  at  Madrid,  and  seeing  so  many  Franciscans  in 
terred,  expressed  his  astonishment  at  the  prodigious 
number  of  them  in  the  city,  and  asked  if  their  order 
was  not  entirely  carried  off  by  this  violent  epidemic." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  the  custom  origin 
ated  in  the  propensity  so  strong  in  us  all,  to  live  sin 
ners  and  die  saints." 

"  Exactly  so,"  L'Isle  answered  ;  "  it  is  a  fraudulent 
custom,  old  as  the  fifth  century,  and  common  in  pop 
ish  countries.  It  is  nothing  less  than  an  attempt  to 
cheat  St.  Peter,  who,  you  know,  keeps  the  keys  of 
heaven,  by  knocking  at  the  gate  in  the  disguise  of  a 
monk  or  a  friar.'-' 

"  I  have  too  much  faith  in  St.  Peter's  vigilance  and 
penetration,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  to  think  he  has 
ever  been  so  taken  in." 

They  presently  got  out  of  the  city  ;  but,  to  Moodie's 
displeasure,  by  a  gate  opposite  to  that  by  which  they 
had  entered  it.  He  was  still  more  annoyed,  wrhen,  on 
coming  to  a  place  where  the  road  branched  into  two, 
tlu:  commissary  took  a  brief  though  kindly  leave  of 
his  wife  and  friends,  and,  followed  by  his  man,  gallop- 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  191 

ed  off  to  the  right,  on  a  professional  chase  after  grain 
and  bullocks. 

L'Isle  was  surprised  to  find  himself  regretting  the 
loss  of  their  fellow- traveler.  He  had  found  him,  al 
ways  remembering  that  he  was  a  commissary,  a  very 
good  fellow ;  for  we  can  find  some  good  in  every  man, 
if  we  take  the  trouble  to  look  for  it ;  and  Shortridge 
was  one  who,  after  taking  care  of  himself,  was  quite 
willing  to  take  care  of  other  people. 

But  L'Isle's  regret  was  nothing  to  Moodie's,  whose 
habits  of  life  led  him  to  appreciate  the  nature  and  im 
portance  of  the  commissary's  official  duties.  He  val 
ued  him  as  a  practical,  responsible  man  of  business, 
with  no  foolish  fancies  about  him.  He  admired  the 
summary  way  in  which  he  had  disposed  of  the  extor 
tionate  inn-keeper,  and  now  looked  after  him  almost 
in  despair ;  for  he  did  not  think  the  party  left  behind 
by  any  means  fit  to  take  care  of  themselves  or  each 
other.  L'Isle  he  did  not  understand  and  mistrusted, 
doubting  whether  he  were  merely  idly  rambling  about 
the  country,  or  harbored  some  covert  design,  the  object 
of  which  was  Lady  Mabel,  of  course. 

"  My  Lady,"  said  he,  riding  up  beside  her,  and 
speaking  in  an  under  tone,  "  this  is  not  the  road  we 
traveled  coming  from  Elvas.  Where  are  you  going 
to  now  ?" 

Remarking  his  dissatisfied  air,  and  the  look  of  sus 
picion  he  cast  on  L'Isle,  she  answered,  with  provoking 
coolness,  "  Oh,  we  are  merely  rambling  about;. any 
road  is  the  right  one,  if  it  but  leads  to  a  new  place." 


192  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

"  But  now  the  commissary  has  left  us,  do  you  not 
mean  to  go  back  to  Elvas  ?" 

"  In  returning  we  will  make  a  detour." 

"  And  what  is  a  detour  ?"  asked  Moodie,  with  a 
puzzled  air. 

"  It  means  going  back  the  longest  way.  We  have 
plenty  of  leisure,  for  the  campaign  will  not  open  di 
rectly." 

"  I  would  like  to  know  what  you,  rny  Lady,  have  to 
do  with  the  opening  of  the  campaign  ?" 

"  A  great  deal,  and  so  have  you ;  for,  as  soon  as  it 
does  open,  you  and  I  must  march  back  to  Scotland." 

"  I  wish  it  were  to-morrow,"  said  Moodie. 

u  It  will  not  be  to-morrow,  or  to-morrow's  morrow," 
Lady  Mabel  answered.  "  Meanwhile,  we  will  see  all 
that  is  to  be  seen,  and  learn  all  that  is  to  be  known. 
Even  you,  by  crowding  and  packing  more  closely 
your  old  notions,  may  find  room  for  some  new  ones.4' 

UI  am  too  old  to  learn,"  said  Moodie,  sullenly. 

"  Too  wise,  you  mean,"  she  said,  breaking  off  from 
him.  "  Come,  Mrs.  Shortridge,  let  me  tear  you  from 
this  barren  spot,  to  which  grief  lias  rooted  you  on 
parting  from  the  commissary  ;"  and,  seizing  that  lady's 
mule  by  the  rein,  Lady  Mabel  led  her,  as  if  helpless 
from  sorrow,  after  the  guide,  who  had  taken  the  left- 
hand  road. 

"Somewhere  hereabouts,"  L'Isle  remarked,  as  they 
rode  on,  "  lies  what  is  called  the  field  of  Sertorius.  I 
know  not  why  it  is  so  named;  but  it  figures  largely 
in  the  tradition,  and  yet  more  in  the  superstitions,  of 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  193 

the  country.  '  There  exists  in  Portugal  a  strange  su 
perstition  concerning  King  Sebastian,  whose  reappear 
ance  is  as  confidently  expected  by  many  of  the  Port 
uguese,  as  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  by  the  Jews. 
The  rise  and  progress  of  this  belief  forms  a  curious 
part  of  their  history.  It  began  in  hope,  when  the 
return  of  that  prince,  after  his  hapless  expedition  to 
Morocco,  and  the  fatal  battle  of  Alcagar  Quiber,  was 
not  only  possible,  but  might  have  been  considered 
likely  ;  it  was  fostered  by  the  policy  of  the  Braganzan 
party  after  all  reasonable  hope  had  ceased  ;  and  length 
of  time  only  served  to  ripen  it  into  a  confirmed  and 
rooted  superstition,  which  even  the  intolerance  of  the 
Inquisition  spared,  for  the  sake  of  the  loyal  and  pat 
riotic  feelings  in  which  it  had  its  birth.  The  holy 
office  never  interfered  farther  with  the  sect,  than  to 
prohibit  the  publication  of  its  numerous  prophecies, 
which  were  suffered  to  circulate  in  private.  For 
many  years  the  persons  who  held  this  strange  opinion 
had  been  content  to  enjoy  their  dream  in  private, 
shrinking  from  observation  and  ridicule  ;  but  as  the 
belief  had  begun  in  a  time  of  deep  calamity,  so  now, 
when  a  heavier  evil  had  overwhelmed  the  kingdom,  it 
spread  beyond  all  former  example.  Their  prophecies 
were  triumphantly  brought  to  light,  for  only  in  the 
promises  which  were  there  held  out  could  the  Port 
uguese  find  consolation  ;  and  proselytes  increased  so 
rapidly,  that  half  Lisbon  became  Sebastianists.  The 
delusion  was  not  confined  to  the  lower  orders ;  it 
reached  the  educated  classes ;  and  men  who  had  been 


194  THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

graduated  in  theology  became  professors  of  a  faith 
which  announced  that  Portugal  was  soon  to  be  the 

O 

head  of  the  Fifth  and  Universal  Monarchy ;  Sebas 
tian  was  speedily  to  come  from  the  Secret  Island  ;  the 
Queen  would  resign  the  sceptre  into  his  hands ;  he 
would  give  Bonaparte  battle  near  Evora,  on  the  field 
of  Sertorius,  slay  the  tyrant,  and  become  monarch  of 
the  world.'  " 

"  And  this  superstition  now  prevails?"  Lady  Mabel 
asked. 

"  So  widely,  that  at  least  every  other  man  you  meet 
is  a  Sebastianist." 

As  they  rode  on  they  found  the  country  dotted  over 
with  quintas  arid  country-houses,  here  called  monies, 
from  being  generally  seated  on  hills.  Around  each 
homestead  the  meagre  and  tame-hued  olive  was  min 
gled  with  the  deep  rich  green  of  the  orange-tree, 
which  here  produces  its  fruit  in  the  greatest  perfec 
tion  of  flavor,  at  least,  if  not  of  size,  and  a  vineyard 
occasionally  occupied  the  slope  of  the  hill.  The  lower 
grounds  were  covered  with  extensive  cornfields,  bear 
ing  here  a  thriving  growth  of  wheat,  there  a  young 
crop  of  maize,  which  furnishes  these  people  with  more 
than  half  their  food. 

"The  Portuguese,"  said  L'Isle,  "like  their  Spanish 
neighbors,  are  often  charged  with  indolence ;  but 
here  and  elsewhere,  under  favorable  circumstances, 
they  show  no  want  of  industry.  The  husbandman  of 
this  part  of  Alemtejo  has  grown  rich  in  spite  of  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  thrift,  which  the  church  has  raised 


THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  195 

up  in  devoting  more  than  half  the  year  to  holy  days. 
Good  lands  are  apt  to  make  good  farmers,  and  labor 
and  skill  well  repaid,  leads  to  the  outlay  of  more  labor 
and  greater  skill." 

"  We  see  around  us  a  people,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"reveling  in  the  Scripture  blessings  of  corn,  wine, 
and  oil.  I  think  there  must  be  no  little  resemblance 
between  Portugal  and  Palestine." 

"The  Jews  think  so  too,"  answered  L'Isle.  "The 
delights  of  Portugal  can  make  a  Jew  forget  Jerusa 
lem.  They  clung,  and  still  cling  to  it,  as  another 
promised  land.  Moreover,  if  their  fathers  of  old 
longed  after  the  leeks  and  onions  of  Egypt,  their  sons 
may  satisfy  that  longing  here." 

"  And  stuff  themselves  with  garlic  to  boot,"  like 
Portuguese  sausage,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge.  "  The 
quantity  of  these  things  in  it  leaves  little  room  for  the 
pork." 

The  travelers  occasionally  fell  in  with  peasants 
singly,  or  in  parties  on  the  road  ;  and  L'Isle,  prompted 
by  the  ladies,  let  few  of  them  pass  without  exchang 
ing  some  words,  which  were  easily  drawn  out ;  for 
English  uniforms,  and  ladies  so  evidently  foreigners, 
excited  much  curiosity,  especially  in  the  women. 
Struck  with  the  air  of  comfort  common  among  these 
people,  and  the  marks  of  fertility  and  cultivation  in 
the  country  around  them,  Lady  Mabel  hoped  that 
Moodie  had  at  last  met  with  something  to  please  him  ; 
so  she  asked  the  opinion  of  that  high  authority  on  the 
rural  prospect  and  the  farming  around  them.  But 


196  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

he  at  once  condemned  it  as  unskillful,  wasteful,  and 
slovenly;  in  short,  just  what  was  to  be  looked  for 
in  this  benighted  land. 

"  What  a  pity  it  is,  Moodie,  you  cannot  speak  Por 
tuguese,"  said  Lady  Mabel;  "you  might  seize  many 
a  chance  of  giving  these  benighted  people  a  valuable 
hint,  particularly  how  to  ferment  their  wine,  and  press 
their  olives." 

"I  am  sure,"  replied  Moodie,  "I  could  make  as 
sour  wine  and  rancid  oil  as  the  best  of  them,  and  they 
make  no  other." 

"  You  are  a  fault-seeking  traveler,"  said  Lady  Ma 
bel;  "and  so  will  find  nothing  to  please  you,  while  I 
enjoy  all  around  me,  and  see  nothing  to  find  fault 
with,  except  the  abominable  custom  of  the  women 
riding  astride  on  their  hurras,  which  I  am  glad  to  see 
is  not  universal." 

"  ^Nay,  my  lady,  the  country  pleases  me  well  enough. 
The  pasturage  is  poor  and  parched,  yet  the  oxen  are 
fine  in  spite  of  their  monstrous  horns ;  and  I  see  corn 
land  that  might  yield  good  oats  or  barley  in  Scot 
land.  The  land  is  well  enough;  it  is  the  people  I 
find  fault  with." 

"  Moodie's  verdict  on  Portugal,"  said  L'Isle,  "  can 
be  summed  up  in  four  little  words :  '  Bona  term,  mala 
gens?  ' 

"  What  pleasure,"  continued  Moodie,  not  heeding 
the  interruption,  "  can  a  Christian  man  find  in  trav 
eling  in  a  land  where  the  people  grovel  in  ignorance 
and  a  besotted  superstition,  which  manifests  that  God 


THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  197 

has  given  them  over  to  a  reprobate  heart.  I  cannot 
speak  their  language ;  I  can  only  look  on  their  wan 
derings  in  the  dark,  and  think  of  the  wrath  to  come." 

"  And  so  here  is  a  missionary  lost !"  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge  exclaimed. 

"But,  according  to  Hoodie's  favorite  dogma,"  said 
L'Isle,  "  were  he  gifted  with  the  purest  and  most  elo 
quent  Portuguese,  or  had  he  the  gift  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier,  who,  when  thrown  among  any  strange  people, 
was  soon  found  exhorting  them  in  their  own  tongue, 
he  could  be  to  this  people  only  a  prophet  of  evil. 
You  say  that  they  are  given  over  to  a  state  of  repro 
bation.  Do  you,  like  a  great  English  philosopher, 
believe  in  election  and  reprobation  by  nature  ?" 

"  Not  exactly ;  nor  do  I  know  any  thing  of  your 
English  philosopher;  but  since  I  have  been  among 
these  people,  I  have  seen  much  to  lead  my  thoughts 
that  way.  And  we  have  example  for  it.  Had  not 
God  his  chosen  people  of  old?  And  the  seven  nations 
of  Canaan,  were  they  not  swept  off  as  utterly  repro 
bate  from  the  face  of  the  earth  ?" 

"  And  now,"  suggested  L'Isle,  wishing  to  know  the 
old  man's  views,  "  election  is  for  the  Scotch  nation, 
and  reprobation  for  the  Portuguese  ?" 

"  I  do  not  say  that  all  Scotchmen,  even  in  the  Kirk, 
are  of  the  elect." 

"No,"  interposed  Lady  Mabel.  "  You  misconstrue 
Moodie.  He  holds  a  particular  election  within  the 
Kirk,  and  a  national  reprobation  outside  of  it." 

"  I  am  afraid,  my  lady,  it  is  not  given  to  you  to  un- 


198  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

derstand  that  high  doctrine.     It  is  ordered  that  the 

O 

blessing,  and  the  comprehension  of  it,  go  hand  in 
hand." 

"  I  must  despair  then,  for  I  certainly  do  not  com 
prehend  it.  In  truth,  the  tenor  of  your  discourse 
calls  up  in  my  mind  the  involuntary  doubt,  did  this 
people  first  desert  God,  or  God  them  ?  But  I  trample 
it  down  as  a  snare  laid  by  the  evil  one." 

"  We  are  in  a  land  where  the  evil  one  bears  full 
sway,"  said  Hoodie. 

"  Yet  you  have  voluntarily  put  yourself  in  purga 
tory  by  coming  to  travel  in  it,"  said  Lady  Mabel. 
"  Bat  you  have  your  consolation,  and  may  give  thank 
ful  utterance  to  the  words  of  our  Scotch  poet : 

'  I  bless  and  praise  thy  matchless  might, 
"Whan  thousands  thou  hast  left  in  night, 
That  I  am  here  afore  thy  sight, 

For  gifts  an'  grace, 
A  burning  and  a  shining  light, 

To  a'  this  place.'  " 

"  I  do  not  know  that  psalmist,  if  in  truth  he  be  a 
maker  of  spiritual  songs,"  said  Moodie,  with  a  doubt 
ful  air. 

"  He  did  dabble  a  little  in  psalmody,"  said  Lady 
Mabel;  "but  I  doubt  whether  his  attempts  would 
satisfy  you.  How  like  you  this  sample  : 

'  Orthodox,  orthodox,  who  believe  in  John  Knox, 
Let  me  sound  an  alarm  to  your  conscience; 
There's  a  heretic  blast  has  been  blown  in  the  Wast, 
That  what  is  not  sense  must  be  nonsense. 


THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE.  199 

Calvin's  sons,  Calvin's  sons,  load  your  spiritual  guns, 
Ammunition  you  never  can  need ; 
Your  hearts  are  the  stuff,  will  be  powder  enough, 
And  your  skulls  are  store-houses  o'  lead.'  " 

"  'Tis  that  profane,  lewd  fellow,  Burns,"  exclaimed 
Moodie,  angrily.  "  He  did  worse  than  hide  his  ten 
talents  in  a  napkin.  I  wonder,  my  lady,  you  defile 
your  mouth  with  his  scurrilous  words." 

"  I  have  done  with  him,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  laugh 
ing.  "  He  was  a  profane,  lewd  fellow,  far  better  at 
pointing  out  other  men's  errors  than  amending  his 
own." 

Moodie  now  fell  back  among  the  servants  ;  and 
L'Isle  remarked,  "  your  old  squire,  Lady  Mabel,  holds 
an  austere  belief.  I  never  met  a  man  so  confident  of 
his  own  salvation  and  of  the  damnation  of  others." 

"  He  reminds  me,"  Mrs.  Shortridge  said,  "  of  a  dis 
senting  neighbor  of  ours,  when  we  lived  in  London, 
•who  was  always  saying,  c  I  am  called,  but  my  wife  is 
not,'  much  to  the  poor  woman's  disquiet  in  this  world, 
if  not  to  the  hazard  of  her  happiness  in  the  next." 

"  The  old  man  puzzles  ine  sadly  at  times,"  said  Lady 
Mabel ;  "  and  he  has  at  hand  many  a  text  to  sustain 
his  dogmas." 

"It  is  a  pity  said  L'Isle,  "that  he  will  not  bear  in 
mind  those  that  bid  us  '  Judge  not  that  ye  be  not 
judged;'  'Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take 
heed  lest  he  fall ;  '  Unto  whomsoever  much  is  given, 
of  him  shall  much  be  required ;'  and  many  others  of 
the  same  tenor." 


200  THE   ACTRESS   IX   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  Pray  go  on,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  and  provide  me 
with  a  refutation  of  Moodie's  theology  of  destiny  :  not 
that  I  hope  to  silence  him,  for  controversy  is  to  him 
the  breath  of  life." 

Xow  L'Isle  had  acquired  many  things  laboriously, 
but  he  had  gotten  his  training  in  divinity  somewhat 
incidentally,  and  hesitated,  as  well  he  might,  to  under 
take  the  task  imposed.  But  spurred  on  by  the  defer 
ence  she  showed  to  his  opinions,  he  eagerly  sought  to 
satisfy,  yet  not  mislead  her.  "  Moodie  is  the  type  of 
a  class,"  he  said,  "  who  are  the  most  wilful  men  in 
the  world,  yet  are  even  inculcating  that  man  has  no 
will  of  his  own,  but  is  the  play  thing  of  fate.  Fatal 
ism,  indeed,  is  no  modern  invention,  being  as  old  as 
humanity  itself,  perhaps,  older.  We  find  it  as  strong 
ly  inculcated  by  the  Greek  tragic  poet,  as  by  the 
modern  Calvinist.  But  the  peculiar  colors  in  which 
we  see  it  dressed,  are  derived  from  the  revolt  of  men's 
minds  against  the  Romish  doctrine  as  to  good  works. 
Among  these,  penance,  fasting,  alms,  pilgrimages, 
bounty  to  the  church  and  its  servants,  come  first. 
This  leads  to  the  keeping  of  a  debt  and  credit  account 
with  heaven;  and  to  the  saints  is  attributed  the 
power  of  buying  up  a  stock  of  works  of  supereroga 
tion,  by  which  they  acquire  a  mediatory  power  in 
themselves.  Human  reason  has  been  likened  to  a 
drunken  clown,  who  if  you  help  him  up  on  one  side 
of  his  horse,  falls  over  on  the  other.  To  deter  men 
from  the  presumptuous  sin  of  attributing  merit  to 
their  actions,  the  reformers,  and  also  individuals  and 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  201 

even  orders  in  the  church,  have  labored  to  prove  that 
man  acts  only  in  obedience  to  preordained  decree,  and 
can  of  himself  do  nothing  good  ;  yet  their  logic  charges 
him  freely  with  the  guilt  of  sinning  by  necessity.  I 
cannot  for  the  life  of  me  distinguish  between  fatalism 
and  predestination.  Either  binds  us  with  the  same 
chain  of  necessity,  in  thought,  word  and  deed,  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave.  To  escape  this  charge,  fanat 
icism  can  only  add  a  few  links  to  the  chain  of  neces 
sitating  cause,  and  tell  you  it  is  necessity  no  longer. 
Now,  our  most  perfect  conception  of  sin  is  found  in  a 
will  which  sets  itself  in  opposition  to  God's  will.  This 
is  the  characteristic  of  the  father  of  evil  and  his  fallen 
hosts.  Our  highest  idea  of  virtue  is  found  in  the  crea 
ture's  conforming  his  will  to  that  of  his  Maker  ;  this 
is  the  trait  of  the  angels  who  were  steadfast  in  their 
faith.  How  can  you  here  couple  fatality  and  will? 
If  ours  be  a  state  of  probation,  it  is  only  by  a  certain 
freedom  of  action,  an  originating  power  of  causation 
in  ourselves,  that  we  can  conceive  of  our  being  put  to 
proof.  Possibly,  in  fallen  man,  that  freedom  is  limit 
ed  to  the  power  of  rejecting  or  yielding  to  the  influ 
ences  of  grace.  Yet  within  that  narrow  range  it  may 
be  still  a  perfect  freedom.  God  said,  '  let  us  make 
man  in  our  image  and  after  our  likeness,'  and  this 
likeness  between  the  '  cause  of  causes'  and  his  crea 
ture,  may  well  consist  in  man's  being  endowed  with  a 
spark  from  the  Creator's  nature,  gifted  with  an  ori 
ginating  will,  and  made  a  source  of  causes  in  him- 


202  THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

self.  To  say  that  this  may  not  be,  were  to  limit  the 
power  of  God." 

"  Most  assuredly,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  who  was  on 
this  point  easily  convinced.  "  I  shall  now  be  ready 
armed  for  Moodie,  when  next  he  broaches  his  dogma 
of  predestination.  But  will  he  listen,  much  less  un 
derstand  ?" 

u  If  his  dogma  be  a  truth,"  continued  L'Isle,  en 
couraged  by  her  approbation,  "to  know  it,  or  any 
other  revealed  truth,  can  avail  us  nothing ;  for  our 
knowledge,  itself  a  predestined  fact,  cannot  influence 
our  preordained  condition  here  or  hereafter.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  the  doctrine  be  misunderstood  or  false, 
it  is  most  dangerous ;  there  being  but  a  short  step  be 
tween  believing  it  and  applying  it,  presumptuously, 
in  our  own  favor,  and  adversely  to  our  neighbor.  We 
are  ever  more  successful  in  deceiving  ourselves  than 
others ;  and  to  indulge  in  the  belief  that  we  are  the 
chosen  of  God,  may  be  only  less  dangerous  than  a 
conviction  of  our  utter  reprobation." 

"  For  my  part,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  I  can  appeal 
yet  more  confidently  to  my  feelings  than  my  reason, 
for  a  refutation  of  the  doctrine  Moodie  lias  so  often 
urged  upon  me.  I  feel  within  me  a  capacity  to  be  as 
wicked  as  I  please,  if  fear  and  reverence  did  not  with 
hold  me." 

"  And  I,  as  your  duenna,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge, 
"  prohibit  any  such  frank  admission  of  propensity  to 
evil  in  a  young  lady  under  my  charge." 

"  Why,  will  you  not  let  me  make  a  Christian  con- 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  203 

fession  of  the  sinfulness  of  my  nature  ?  It  were  in 
deed  heresy  to  claim  an  equal  capacity  for  good. 
There  I  acknowledge  the  need  of  aid  from  above." 

"  And  that  aid  is  not  compulsion,"  said  L'Isle,  "  as 
every  page  of  Scripture  testifies.  There  is  something 
strangely  illogical  in  the  reasoning  of  those  who, 
starting  from  the  point,  that  what  has  been  decreed 
by  God  is  as  good  as  done,  and  the  future  as  fixed  as 
the  past,  thence  exhort  us  to  plead,  because  the  de 
cree  has  gone  forth  ;  to  run  in  the  race,  because  the 
victor  has  been  chosen,  and  the  prize  adjudged;  to 
strive,  because  the  battle  has  been  fought ;  and  to  re 
pent  and  be  saved,  because  our  final  destiny  was 
decided  before  time  was.  Surely,  if  this  life  have 
any  bearing  on  another,  we  are  running  a  race,  the 
issue  of  which  is  undecided  until  death  ;  and  ours  is  a 
real  struggle,  not  merely  the  acting  out  of  a  foregone 
conclusion,  not  the  dramatic  representation  of  a  past 
event.  What  would  you  think  of  a  modern  Greek 
praying  zealously  that  Moharned  II.  should  not  have 
taken  Constantinople?  Or  of  a  Roman  of  to-day  be 
sieging  heaven  with  prayers  that  Rome  should  not 
have  been  taken  by  the  Goths,  or  sacked  by  the  army 
of  the  Constable  Bourbon  ?  Yet  what  is  commonly 
called  Calvinist  is  nothing  less  than  this  ;  praying 
against  past  events,  or  the  decrees  of  fate.  Is  the 
papist  so  absurd  in  offering  his  masses  for  the  dead  ?" 

The  ladies  were  still  complimenting  L'Isle  on  his 
refutation  of  Moodie's  tenets,  so  obnoxious  to  their 
own  convictions,  when  they  met  a  peasant  trudging 


204:  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

along,  cujado  in  hand,  with  the  small  end  of  which 
he  occasionally  enliveued  the  motions  of  an  ass  toil 
ing  under  a  heavy  sack  of  grain.  The  muleteer  stop 
ped  him  to  enquire  where  they  might  find  water  for 
their  animals  in  this  thirsty  land.  The  peasant  point 
ed  back  to  a  thicket  iiear  the  road,  arid  said :  "  I 
would  have  watered  my  own  beast  there,  but  for  the 
company  I  would  have  fallen  among."  He  then  went 
on  his  way,  and  they  rode  to  the  spot  pointed  out, 
where  among  the  oleander  and  buckthorn  bushes  they 
found  a  puddle  rather  than  a  spring,  so  well  had  it 
been  lately  stirred  up.  A  gang  of  eight  or  nine  vag 
rants,  who  had  been  munching  their  crusts  and  sar- 
dinhas  in  the  shade,  now  sprung  up,  and  placing 
themselves  between  the  travelers  and  the  water,  voci 
ferously  demanded  alms.  To  rid  themselves  of  this 
motley  troop,  L'Isle  and  Mrs.  Shortridge  threw  each 
of  them  a  small  coin.  They  were  not  so  easily  satis 
fied,  but  thrusting  themselves  among  the  horses,  con 
tinued  to  rival  each  other  in  whining  petitions  and 
adjurations  of  their  favorite  saints.  Lady  Mabel, 
who  had  emptied  her  purse  of  small  coin  the  evening 
before,  now  entreated  Moodie  to  let  this  second  op 
portunity  of  alms-giving,  so  manifestly  sent  for  his 
benefit,  soften  his  stony  heart.  But  he  shook  his 
head  grimly,  saying :  u  If  they  are  strong  enough  to 
travel,  .they  are  strong  enough  to  work  ;  and  work 
they  shall,  or  starve,  before  they  touch  a  penny  of 
mine !" 

L'Isle's  short  tempered  groom,  availing  himself  of 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  205 

the  impatience  of  a  thirsty  horse,  now  turned  his 
about,  at  once  spurring  and  reining  him  in,  which 
made  him  lash  out  his  heels  at  the  intruders  near  him. 
The  other  steeds  seemed  to  catch  this  infectious  rest- 
iveness,  and  the  beggars  were  driven  to  a  safer  dis 
tance.  Their  horses  now  could  drink  in  peace  of  the 
water  stirred  up  and  muddied  by  their  mendicant 
friends,  whom  they  presently  left  behind  them,  with 
out  further  heeding  their  continued  and  vociferous  ap 
peals.  One  stout  ragged  fellow  put  himself  in  their 
way,  and  displayed  to  their  eyes  a  flaming  picture, 
painted  on  a  board,  depicting  the  torments  of  the 
souls  in  purgatory.  But  the  travelers  were  in  a 
hurry,  and  unmoved  at  the  sight,  left  the  souls  in  un 
mitigated  tortures  there. 

"  What  we  have  just  seen,"  said  L'Isle  to  the  ladies, 
"  may  convince  you  that  beggars  are  a  formidable  class 
in  this  country.  They  ramble  about,  and  infest  every 
place,  not  entreating  charity,  but  demanding  it.  They 
often  assemble  at  night  in  hordes,  at  the  best  country 
house  they  can  find,  and  taking  up  their  abode  in  one 
of  the  out-buildings,  call  for  whatever  they  want,  like 
travelers  #t  an  inn;  and  here  they  claim  the  right  of 
tarrying  three  days,  if  they  like  it.  When  a  gang  of 
these  sturdy  fellows  meets  a  traveler  on  the  highway, 
he  must  offer  them  money ;  and  it  sometimes  happens 
that  the  amount  of  the  offering  is  not  left  to  his  own 
discretion.  St.  Anthony  assails  him  on  one  side,  St. 
Francis  on  the  other.  Having  satisfied  their  clamor 
in  behalf  of  these  favorite  saints,  he  is  next  attacked 


206  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

for  the  honor  of  the  Virgin  ;  and  thus  they  rob  him, 
for  the  love  of  God." 

"  I  wonder,"  Mrs.  Shortridge  said,  "  the  nation  tol 
erates  such  a  nuisance." 

"  There  are  laws  for  its  abatement,"  answered  L'Isle. 
"  John  III.  and  Sebastian  both  warred  against  the 
beggars.  A  law  of  the  sixteenth  oentury  ordains  that 
the  lame  should  learn  the  trade  of  a  tailor  or  shoemaker, 
the  maimed  serve  for  subsistence  any  who  will  employ 
them,  and  the  blind,  for  food  and  raiment,  give  them 
selves  to  the  labors  of  the  forge,  by  blowing  the  bel 
lows.  But  we  see  how  the  law  is  enforced.  These 
men  behind  us  are  neither  lame,  halt,  nor  blind,  but 
truly  represent  the  sturdy  vagrants  with  whom  Queen 
Bess's  statute  dealt  so  roughly.  With  what  result  ? 
It  is  but  the  ancestor  of  a  long  line  of  laws  which  load 
our  statute-books,  and  have  built  up  our  poor-law  sys 
tem,  merely  substituting  for  one  evil  another  which 
burdens  the  country  like  an  incubus,  and,  vulture-like, 
is  eating  out  its  entrails." 

"  We  have  no  such  national  institution  for  the  breed 
ing  of  beggars  in  Scotland,"  said  Hoodie,  from  behind. 

"  Is  it  because  Scotland  is  too  poor  to  maintain 
paupers  ?"  inquired  Mrs.  Shortridge. 

"  It  is  because  it  is  not  natural  for  a  Scotchman  to 
be  a  beggar,"  replied  Moodie,  with  patriotic  pride. 

"  We  cannot  carry  the  system  much  further  in 
England,"  said  L'Isle  ;  "  the  resources  of  the  country, 
and  the  sturdy  character  of  the  people,  are  breaking 
down  under  it." 


THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  207 

"  Could  our  British  population  be  brought  down  to 
as  low  a  condition  as  these  people?"  Lady  Mabel 
asked. 

"  Assuredly  not,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge. 

"  Have  you  ever  been  in  Ireland  ?"  asked  L'Isle. 

No,  neither  of  the  ladies  had  been  there. 

"  Or  in  an  English  poor-house  ?" 

Thatj  too,  was  terra  incognita,  especially  to  Lady 
Mabel. 

"Either  of  them  might  assist  you  in  finding  an  an 
swer  to  a  very  difficult  question.  Still,  like  Moodie, 
I  have  great  faith  in  race,  and  in  the  fitness  of  climates 
to  races.  There  is  something  enervating  to  a  northern 
race  in  these  subtropical  climates.  While  the  powers 
of  enjoyment  remain  unimpaired,  or  are  even  stim 
ulated,  the  energy  of  action  is  rapidly  sapped.  We 
know  that  the  Gothic  conquerors  of  this  peninsula 
lost,  in  a  few  generations,  their  energy  and  enterprise. 
A  war  of  seven  centuries  revived  and  sustained  that 
of  their  descendants ;  but,  after  that  stimulant  was 
withdrawn,  on  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors,  they  grad 
ually  sunk  to  what  we  see  them  now.  Some  persons 
attribute  the  character  and  condition  of  these  penin 
sular  nations  to  the  vices  of  government,  others  to  the 
corruption  of  the  church.  I  doubt  the  question's  ad 
mitting  of  so  simple  a  solution  as  either,  or  both  of 
these.  We  may  be  putting  effect  for  cause,  and  cause 
for  effect.  An  inferior  people  may  deteriorate  govern 
ment,  and  corrupt  the  church.  The  disciples  of  the 
apostles  received  Christianity  in  its  purity.  Whence 


208  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

originated  the  rapid  degeneracy  of  the  early  Church  ? 
We  see  some  portions  of  the  human  race  betraying 
stronger  downward  tendencies  than  others.  But  the 
'  why'  is  too  complex  a  question  to  admit  of  a  simple 
solution.  The  Portuguese  of  this  province  especially 
are  an  inferior  people.  They  are  probably  a  degen 
erate  people;  and  one  cause  of  that  degeneracy  may 
be  an  intermixture  of  dissimilar  races." 

"It  is  evident,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "that  the 
work  Pelayo  began  was  never  finished  by  his  suc 
cessors  ;  that  in  reconquering  the  country  the  Chris 
tians  did  not  make  thorough  work  in  expelling  the 
Moors." 

"  I  know  not  how  thoroughly  they  may  have  driven 
out  the  Moors,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  but  they  cer 
tainly  have  not  kept  out  the  black-a-moors.  The  ne 
groes  now  form  no  small  part  of  the  population  of 
Lisbon." 

"  And  the  worst  part,"  said  L'Tsle ;  "  as  will  always 
happen  when  an  inferior  race  is  brought  in  contact  and 
competition  with  one  superior  to  it.  A  great  part  of 
the  robbers,  and  other  criminals  there,  are  negroes. 
These  are  comparatively  new-coiners ;  but  among  the 
old  population  around  us,  though  we  meet  with  many 
specimens  of  men  of  pure  and  better  breed,  still,  the 
great  number  of  turned-up  noses  and  projecting  lips 
we  see,  gives  us  an  idea  of  an  intermixture  with  ne 
groes.  This  mixture  and  deterioration  of  the  people 
will  control  the  condition  of  the  country  far  more  than 
revolutions  in  church  and  state.  The  presence  of  but 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  209 

one  race  in  a  country  renders  possible  a  real  freedom, 
embracing  the  whole  population,  and  it  becomes  more 
attainable  if  this  people  be  a  race  of  high  caste  ;  but 
an  inferior  people  mingled  with  them,  will  be  politi 
cally  and  socially  subjected  to  them.  This  is  the  his 
tory  of  races  all  over  the  world." 

They  had  now  ridden  many  miles  on  the  road  to 
Murao,  whither  L'Isle  would   gladly  have   led    the 
ladies,  were  it  only  for  the  pleasure  of  taking  them 
across  the  Guadiana,  so  renowned   in  song;  but  he 
feared  to  prolong  the  fatigues  of  the  journey  beyond 
the  next  day,  and  bade  the  muleteer  find  the  shortest 
way  back  to  Elvas.     On  this  their  guide  soon  turned 
into  a  by-way,  and  they  gradually  left  the  cultivated 
country  behind  them.    The  heat  of  the  day  made  them 
wish  for  shelter  long  before  it  could  be  found  in  so 
bare   and   desolate    a  region.     At  length  they  were 
cheered  by  the  sight  of  a  few  pines  of  stunted  growth, 
and  seating  themselves  in  the  shade,  prepared  to  dine, 
while  the  servants  went   in  search  of  water,  which 
proved  scarce  drinkable  when  brought.     The  sweet- 
smelling  thyme,   which  abounded  in  this  spot,  now 
bruised  under  the   horses'  hoofs,  gave   a  refreshing 
fragrance  to  the  air,  and  they  rested  the  longer,  as 
Mrs.  Shortridge  seemed  worn  out  with  the  heat.    Lady 
Mabel  seized  tbe  occasion  to  add  some  new  plants  to 
her  hortus  siccus,  which,  now  swollen  to  a  portentous 
bulk,  occupied  the  highest  place  in  the  load  of  one  of 
the   mules.     As   she  wandered   from  one  cluster  of 
plants  to  another,  her  voice  rose  into  a  tuneful  strain. 
9* 


210  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

L'Isle  followed  her  with  eye  and  ear,  as  imprisoned 
Palamon  did  Emilie,  while 

"  She  gathered  flowers,  partly  white  and  red, 
To  make  a  subtle  garland  for  her  head, 
And  as  an  angel,  heaven-like  she  sang." 

But  she  presently  returned  to  her  seat,  and  to  her 
favorite  diversion  of  exciting  Hoodie's  controversial 
spirit,  by  asking  him  if  there  was  not  something  ex 
ceedingly  impressive  in  the  external  religion  of  the 
people  they  were  among  ? 

The  term  she  used  was  enough  to  rouse  him  ;  but, 
checking  himself,  he  sneeringly  said,  "  I  think  these 
mummeries  are  well  contrived  for  their  purpose,  to 
amuse  a  childish  people,  and  keep  them  in  a  state  of 
childhood." 

"  And  why  should  they  not  be  amused  ?"  said  Lady 
Mabel,  "  since  you  will  view  it  in  that  light  ?  The 
church,  their  nursing-mother,  takes  charge  of  them, 
body  and  soul,  and  strives  to  make  religion  part  and 
parcel  of  the  occupations  of  every  hour  of  every  day 
life.  By  spectacles,  processions,  pictures,  music,  by 
the  lonely  way-side  cross,  by  the  crucifix  hidden  in 
the  bosom,  by  the  neighboring  convent  bell,  chiming 
the  hour  of  prayer,  the  Romanist  is  reminded  forty 
times  a  day  that  he  does  not  live  for  this  life  alone. 
Does  he  seek  amusement  from  books?  she  takes  out 
of  his  hands  the  lewd  tale  or  lying  romance,  and  puts 
into  it  the  more  wonderful  legend  of  a  saint  or  a  mar 
tyr.  Does  any  son  of  the  church  neglect  the  practice 
of  charity  ?  she  sends  him  an  Jmmble  penniless  friar 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  211 

to  remind  him  of  that  duty.  Does  he  strive  to  forget 
his  sins?  she  startles  his  slumbering  conscience  by 
duly  summoning  him  to  the  confessional.  The  youths 
and  maidens,  taking  an  evening  walk,  led  by  early 
habit,  stroll  toward  some  neighboring  chapel,  and 
suspend  their  thoughtless  mirth,  while  they  bend 
the  knee  to  offer  up  a  prayer,  and  make  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  in  emblem  of  their  faith  in  Him  who  died 
upon  it.' 

Moodie  shook  his  head.  "  You  have  well  named 
its  external  \religion.  It  is  a  whited  sepulchre,  full 
within  of  dead  men's  bones.  The  Kirk  swept  out  all 
that  rubbish  long  ago,  and  the  less  it  is  like  Rome 
the  nearer  the  pure  faith." 

"  They  would  be  odd  Christians,"  said  L'lsle,  "  who 
held  nothing  in  common  with  Rome.  I  doubt,  too, 
whether  it  be  possible  to  preserve  the  substance  with 
an  utter  disregard  to  form.  When  inspiration  ceased, 
it  was  time  to  frame  liturgies  and  creeds.  But  there 
is  one  material  point  in  which  the  Kirk  of  Scotland 
and  the  Church  of  Rome  still  strongly  resemble  each 
other." 

Moodie  pricked  up  his  ears  at  this  astounding  as 
sertion,  and  scornfully  asked  :  "  What  point  is  that, 
sir?" 

"  Their  vicarious  public  worship,"  answered  L'lsle. 
"  They  both  pray  by  proxy.  The  Papists  employ  a 
priest  to  pray  for  them  in  a  dead  language  which  they 
do  not  understand,  and  the  Presbyterians  a  minister 
to  offer  up  petitions  unknown  to  his  people  until  after 


212  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

they  are  uttered,  who  stand  listening,  or  seeming  to 
listen,  to  this  vicarious  prayer,  which  may  be,  and 
often  is,  unfitted  to  the  wants  of  their  hearts, 'and  the 
convictions  of  their  consciences." 

"  And  to  escape  these  dangers,  more  possible  than 
likely,  you  flee  to  those  dead  formularies  you  call 
your  liturgy,"  retorted  Moodie. 

"To  the  formalist  and  the  negligent,"  L'Isle  re 
plied,  "  the  liturgy  is  but  a  form  ;  but  to  the  earnest 
churchman  it  is  a  thing  of  life.  Using  it,  the  Chris 
tian  congregation,  priest  and  layman,  pastor  and  flock, 
join  in  an  united  confession  of  their  sins,  in  the  profes 
sion  of  their  common  faith,  in  prayer  for  mercies 
needed,  in  thanksgiving  for  blessings  bestowed.  God's 
praise  is  sung,  his  pardon  to  repentant  sinners  authori 
tatively  pronounced,  the  sacrarnents  ordained  by 
Christ  are  reverently  administered,  and  the  whole 
body  of  revealed  truth  and  sacred  history  sytemati- 
cally  recited  to  the  people  in  the  course  of  each 
year — a  most  profitable  teaching  to  the  young  and  ig 
norant,  who  cannot  search  the  Scriptures  for  them 
selves.  This  is  a  true  Christian  public  worship,  com 
plete  in  itself.  Nor  do  we  neglect  preaching  as  a 
means  of  instruction  and  exhortation,  without  holding 
it  to  be  an  always  essential  accompaniment,  much 
less,  as  you  do,  the  right  arm  in  the  public  worship  of 
God." 

"  And  to  this  form  of  words,  made  by  man,"  ob 
jected  Moodie,  "  you  attribute  a  divine  character,  little, 
if  at  all,  below  that  which  belongs  to  the  word  of  God." 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  213 

"  So  far  as  it  consists  of  the  language  of  Scripture, 
rightly  applied,  it  is  divine,"  said  L'Isle.  "  But  it  is 
an  error  to  say  that  our  liturgy,  or  any  other  worthy 
to  be  named,  was  made  by  a  man,  or  the  men  of  any 
one  age.  It  has  a  more  catholic  origin  than  that. 
The  spiritual  experience  of  devout  men  of  many  cen 
turies  of  Christianity,  realizing  the  needs  of  sinful  hu 
manity  in  its  intercourse  with  its  Maker  and  Re 
deemer,  and  the  comforting  Spirit,  have  helped  to 
build  it  up,  and  thus  adapted  it,  in  its  parts  of  general 
application,  to  the  spiritual  wants,  at  all  times,  of 
every  child  of  Adam." 

"  You  speak  up  finely  for  your  formal  service,  sir," 
said  Moodie ;  "  and  I  may  not  be  scholar  enough  to 
answer  you.  But  every  spiritual  minded  man  knows 
that  it  only  fetters  the  spirit  in  prayer." 

"  Yet  we  might  infer,"  said  L'Isle,  "  from  a  passage  in 
the  Revelations  of  St.  John,  that  a  liturgy  is  used  by  the 
four  and  twenty  elders  who  stand  before  the  throne." 
"  You  and  Moodie  do  not  seern  to  get  any  nearer  to 
each  other,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge,  "  in  your  rambles 
through  the  mazes  of  controversy." 

"  We  only  need  here  a  well-trained  son  of  Rome," 
answered  L'Isle,  uto  make  confusion  worse  confound 
ed.  Luckily,  Moodie  and  I  can  fight  out  our  duel  in 
quiet,  without  having  a  dexterous  adversary  come  in 
as  thirdsman,  and  kill  us  both." 

The  muleteer,  who  had  shown  signs  of  impatience 
unusual  with  him,  now  pointed  to  the  sun;  in  a  few 
minutes  they  were  again  on  the  road,  which  was  but 


214  THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

a  bridle-path,  and  the  country  promised  less  and  less 
as  they  rode  on.  Their  guide  looked  around  doubt- 
ingly,  and  at  length  turned  aside  to  a  half  ruinous 
cottage,  the  only  habitation  they  had  seen  for  miles, 
where  he  closely  questioned  an  old  woman  whom  he 
found  there  as  to  the  way  before  them.  Little  satis 
fied  with  her  directions,  he  presently  stopped  an 
idiotic  looking  fellow,  with  a  huge  head,  whom  they 
met  driving  some  milch  goats  toward  the  hovel,  and 
questioned  him.  The  goatherd  stood  staring  at  the 
party  with  open  mouth,  and  gave  little  heed  to  him. 
But,  at  length,  being  pressed  for  an  answer,  he  gave 
one  in  a  harsh  voice  with  great  volubility,  and  much 
action,  as  if  drawing  in  the  air  a  map  of  the  whole 
country  around.  The  muleteer  seemed  satisfied,  arid 
they  again  moved  on  over  a  waste  of  low,  rolling 
hills,  without  a  tree  upon  them.  Unlike  the  heaths 
of  the  north  of  Europe,  it  was  covered  with  a  false 
show  of  fertility,  displaying  a  variety  of  plants ; 
among  them  several  species  of  heath,  one  six  feet 
high,  and  entirely  covered  with  large  red  flowers, 
another,  smaller  indeed,  but  with  flowers  of  a  yet 
more  lively  red.  Here,  too,  were  the  yellow-flow 
ered  cisti,  and  many  other  plants  with  blossoms  of 
many  hues,  perfuming  the  air  while  they  delighted 
the  eye.  But  the  stunted  juniper  bushes,  and  the 
myrtles,  not  luxuriant  and  beautiful,  like  those  grow 
ing  on  the  banks  of  the  rivulets,  but  dwarfish  to  the 
humble  size  of  weeds,  told  of  a  land  of  starvation  un 
der  this  wilderness  of  sweets. 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  215 

Lady  Mabel,  much  as  she  loved  flowers,  was  sated 
here,  and  owned  that  no  profusion  of  them  could 
make  a  landscape.  "  There  is  a  dreary  monotony  in 
a  scene  like  this,  that  words  cannot  express.  The  sky 
of  brass  over  our  heads,  and  this  treeless,  lifeless  sea  of 
sandy  hillocks  around  us,  excite  a  feeling  of  desolation 
and  solitude,  which  forces  me  to  look  round  on  our  par 
ty  to  convince  myself  that  I  am  not  alone  in  the  world." 

The  muleteer,  wlra  was  some  way  ahead,  now 
stopped  short.  Riding  up,  they  saw  that  the  path 
here  divided  into  two,  and  heard  him  heaping  curses 
on  the  huge  head  of  the  simpleton,  who  had  forgotten 
to  tell  him  which  to  follow.  But,  on  L'Isle's  asking 
what  they  should  do  now,  he  dismounted,  and  stepped 
up  to  consult  his  wisest  mule,  which  he  did  by  slip 
ping  the  bridle  from  his  head.  At  once,  sure  instinct 
came  to  faltering  reason's  aid  ;  the  beast  turned  com 
placently  into  the  right  hand  path,  and  moving 
briskly  on,  jingled  his  bells  more  cheerily  than  before, 
as  if  he  already  saw  the  open  stable  door,  and  snuifed 
his  evening  meal.  Their  path  bending  westward, 
they  now  saw  clouds  mustering  on  the  heights  before 
them,  and  one  of  April's  sudden  showers  drawing  near. 

Within  less  then  a  mile,  they  came  upon  a  hedge 
of  American  aloes,  which,  with  their  close  array  of 
massive  leaves,  each  ending  in  a  sharp  point,  protected 
an  orchard.  Following  its  course  a  few  rods,  they 
came  to  a  rude  gateway,  which  admitted  them  into  a 
small  cattle-yard,  and  alow,  unpretending  farm-house 
stood  before  them. 


216  THE  ACTKESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

First,  for  thy  bees  a  quiet  station  find, 

And  lodge  them  under  covert  from  the  wind ; 

For  winds,  when  homeward  they  return,  will  drive 

The  loaded  carriers  from  their  earing  hive ; 

Far  from  the  cows'  and  goats'  insulting  crew, 

That  trample  down  the  flowers  and  brush  the  dew, 

The  painted  lizard  and  the  bird  of  prey, 

Foes  to  the  frugal  kind,  be  far  away — 

The  titmouse  and  the  pecker's  hungry  brood, 

And  Procne  with  her  bosom  stained  with  blood : 

These  rob  the  trading  citizens,  and  bear  . 

The  trembling  captives  through  the  liquid  air, 

And  for  their  callow  young  a  cruel  feast  prepare. 

********* 

Wild  thyme  and  savory  set  around  their  cell, 
Sweet  to  the  taste  and  fragrant  to  the  smell : 
Set  rows  of  rosemary  with  flowering  stem, 
And  let  the  purple  violet  drink  the  stream. 

DEYDEN'S  Virgil. 

THE  building  before  them  had  low,  thick  walls,  of 
undressed  stones,  and  a  heavy  roof  over  it  covered 
with  tiles.  The  door  was  shut,  and  the  travelers  could 
see  nothing  of  the  household ;  but  the  sharp,  angry 
challenge  of  the  canine  sentinels  within,  who  did  not 
pause  to  listen  for  an  answer,  proved  that  the  place 
was  not  without  a  garrison.  Some  premonitory  drops 
began  to  fall  from  the  cloud,  which  now  overhung 
them.  Tired  of  waiting,  L'Isle  was  about  to  complete 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  217 

the  investment  by  sending  the  muleteer  round  to  the 
other  side  of  the  house,  when  he  perceived  two  young 
round  faces  peeping  out  at  a  square  hole  in  the  wall 
that  served  for  a  window ;  a  man's  voice  was  heard 
quieting  the  dogs,  and  a  pair  of  sharp  eyes  were  de 
tected  peering  over  the  door,  made  too  short  for  the 
doorway,  perhaps  for  that  purpose.  The  governor  was 
evidently  reconnoitering  carefully  the  party  outside. 
The  result  seemed,  at -length,  to  prove  satisfactory, 
the  presence  of  the  ladies  probably  removing  any  fears 
of  violence. 

The  door  was  thrown  open,  and  one,  who  seemed 
to  be  the  master  of  the  house,  stepped  out  with  an  air 
of  frank  hospitality  to  receive  their  request  for  shelter. 
Begging  them  to  alight,  he  called  out  for  "  Manoel ! 
Manoel !"  who  soon  showed  himself  in  the  shape  of  a 
young  clown,  crawling  out  from  behind  a  heap  of 
straw  in  a  neighboring  shed,  and  who  was  ordered  to 
assist  in  unloading  the  mules  and  taking  care  of  the 
horses. 

Tired  and  thirsty,  and  glad  to  find  shelter,  the  ladies 
entered  the  house,  where  they  were  met  by  two  young 
women,  unmistakably  the  daughters  of  the  host.  Their 
sparkling  eyes  and  coal-black  hair,  their  round  faces 
and  regular  features,  were  like  his  ;  and  they  were  only 
less  swarthy,  from  being  less  exposed  to  the  sun. 
Their  dress  was  in  fashion,  but  commonly  worn  by 
the  peasant  women — the  jacket  and  petticoat — but 
smarter,  and  of  more  costly  stuffs  than  usual.  Their 
feet,  too,  were  bare,  but  small  and  well-formed,  be- 


218  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

traying  little  indurating  familiarity  with  the  rough 
paths  around  them. 

Had  they  preserved  their  pedigree,  this  family 
would  have  found  many  an  ancestor  among  the  Lusi- 
tanian  Moors,  and  afforded  the  most  striking  among 
the  many  proofs  the  travelers  had  met  with,  that  many 
a  Mohammedan,  when  the  crescent  waned  before  the 
cross,  had  preferred  his  country  to  his  faith.  The  girls 
were  for  a  while  abashed  at  the  presence  of  the  strang 
ers  ;  but,  with  a  hospitality  spurred  on  by  curiosity, 
soon  recovered  themselves,  and  encumbered  the  ladies 
with  their  attentions.  Strangers  they  seldom  saw, 
and  these  outlandish  ladies  were  as  strange  to  them 
as  if  they  had  dropped  from  the  moon.  Under  pre 
tence  of  assisting  the  travelers  to  rid  themselves  of 
their  outer  garment  of  dust,  they  examined  the  tex 
ture  and  fashion  of  their  dresses,  veils  and  gloves, 
spread  out  Lady  Mabel's  shawl  to  admire  the  pattern, 
and  asked  more  questions  than  she  could  answer  or 
understand.  They  were  closely  inspecting  the  rings 
on  her  fingers,  and  wondering  at  the  whiteness  of  her 
hand,  when  their  father  coming  in,  rebuked  their  ob- 
trusiveness.  He  made  them  gather  up  the  pile  of  flax, 
with  the  spindles  and  distaffs  now  lying  idle  on  the 
floor,  and  invited  the  ladies  to  take  possession  of  the 
cushions,  which,  after  a  Moorish  custom  still  lingering 
here,  the  girls  had  used  as  seats. 

L'Isle  coming  in  and  finding  father  and  daughters 
bestirring  themselves  to  make  their  guests  comfortable, 
suggested  that  their  most  urgent  want  was  water. 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  219 

One  of  the  girls  at  once  Brought  a  cup,  and  one  from 
among  several  jars,  and,  while  the  ladies  were  drink 
ing,  L'Isle  called  their  attention  to  the  peculiarities 
of  the  vessel,  of  so  porous  a  nature,  that  the  water, 
always  oozing  through  it,  kept  the  outside  wet,  the 
constant  evaporation  of  a  part  cooling  what  remained 
within.  He  pointed  out,  too,  the  peculiar  fashion  of 
the  jar — its  beautiful  and  classic  mould  indicating 
that,  amidst  the  corruption  of  taste  and  the  loss  of 
arts,  in  pottery  at  least,  the  antique  type  of  form  had 
been  faithfully  handed  down  from  the  time  of  the 
Roman.  But  the  ladies  were  too  busy  with  the  water 
to  bestow  much  thought  on  the  jar,  and  L'Isle's  lesson 
in  vertu  was  pretty  much  lost  on  them. 

The  house  consisted  of  several  small  rooms,  besides 
the  larger  apartment,  in  which,  after  a  while,  the 
whole  party  was  collected,  including  the  servants  and 
muleteer.  The  girls  called  in  an  old  woman  to  assist 
them  in  their  household  duties,  and  she  employed  her 
self  at  the  smoky  tire-place  in  cooking  some  sausages, 
which,  by  the  perfume  the}7"  soon  diffused  through  the 
room,  proved  that  in  stuffing  them  the  genus  alliwn 
had  not  been  forgotten.  To  give  a  classic  flavor  to 
the  fumes,  L'Isle  found  himself  quoting  the  lines  : 

"  ThestyUs  et  rapido  fessis  messoribus  aestu 
Allia  serpyllumque  herbas  conlundit  olentes." 

But,  if  this  sweetened  the  smell  to  him,  it  was  lost  on 
the  ladies,  and  Thestylis  was  still  to  them  a  smoky 
old  woman,  frying,  marvelously,  ill-odored  sausages. 
Their  host  disappeared  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then 


220  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

returned,  no  longer  in  dishabille,  but  in  full  dress,  as 
if  going  to  the  next  town  on  some  high  festival.  This 
was  evidently  in  honor  of  his  guests.  It  was  growing 
dark,  and  he  now  lit  a  lantern  hanging  against  the 
wall.  Within  the  lantern,  and  behind  the  lamp,  a 
little  image  of  some  saint  was  seen  shedding  his  be 
nignant  influence  over  the  household.  The  hastily 
prepared  meal  was  now  ready.  This  was  no  time  or 
place  for  nice  distinctions  of  rank,  and,  urged  by  their 
host,  the  whole  party  sat  down  together.  Besides  the 
overpowering  sausages,  preserved  fruits,  honey,  and 
black  and  white  bread  covered  the  table,  with  a  pile 
of  oranges  just  gathered  from  the  boughs.  These  last 
vanished  rapidly  before  the  thirsty  travelers.  Their 
host  seemed  to  think  his  more  substantial  fare  ne 
glected,  and  L'Isle  took  care  to  attribute  it  to  their 
having  dined  too  lately  and  heartily,  to  have  yet  re 
covered  their  appetites. 

Lady  Mabel,  seeing  Moodie  at  the  end  of  the  table, 
with  his  back  to  the  dim  light,  eating  almost  in  the 
dark,  urged  him  to  change  his  seat,  and  take  one  op 
posite  to  and  close  under  the  lamp.  Moodie  looked 
askance  at  the  saint,  who  was  bestowing  a  benediction 
on  those  before  him,  and  grumbled  out,  "  Better  to 
eat  in  the  dark,  than  by  the  light  of  Satan's  lantern." 

"  You  are  over  scrupulous,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge : 
"  if  these  illuminated  saints  be  one  of  Satan's  devices, 
I  think  it  meritorious  to  turn  them  to  a  useful  purpose, 
as  was  successfully  done  by  a  friend  of  mine  residing 
in  Lisbon.  Finding  the  lamp  he  had  put  before  his 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  221 

door  repeatedly  broken — for  the  Lisbon  rabble  love 
darkness  better  than  light — he  bought  a  little  image 
of  St.  Antony,  and  put  it  up  behind  it,  and  the  saint's 
presence  seemed  to  paralyze  the  arms  of  the  evil  doers." 
"There  is  an  inward  and  an  outward  light,"  said 
Moodie,  sententiously  :  "  your  friend,  wanting  that  in 
ward  light,  chose,  for  a  little  personal  convenience,  to 
countenance  a  shining  idolatry."  Their  host,  gather 
ing  from  their  looks  and  gestures  that  they  wanted 
more  light,  now  brought  in  another  lamp,  which  the 
ladies  soon  used  to  light  them  to  the  chamber  allotted 
to  them.  The  girls  went  with  them ;  and  Lady  Ma 
bel,  finding  them  loiter  there,  full  of  curiosity,  and 
examining  every  article  of  dress  and  baggage  with 
prying  eyes,  deliberately  unpacked  every  thing  she 
had  with  her,  and  induced  Mrs.  Shortridge,  sleepy  as 
she  was,  to  do  so  too  ;  then,  giving  them  to  understand 
that  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  seen,  politely  turn 
ed  them  out  of  the  room,  that  she  might  make  more 
profitable  use  of  the  remaining  hours  of  the  night. 
A  chamber  and  bed  were  found  for  L'Isle,  but  Moodie 
and  the  servants  had  no  better  accommodations  than 
mats  spread  on  the  floor  of  the  larger  room.  They 
had  no  sooner  lain  down  than  the  rats  overhead  com 
menced  their  gambols,  racing  each  other  over  the 
reeds  which  laid  on  the  joists,  formed  the  only  ceiling 
to  the  room.  Their  gymnastic  sports  brought  down 
showers  of  dust  and  soot  on  the  would-be  sleepers  be 
low,  who  were  already  beset  by  certain  rejoicing  tribes, 
which  seized  the  occasion  to  hold  their  carnival. 


222  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

The  whole  household  were  afoot  early  next  morning 
and,  while  waiting  for  breakfast,  Lady  Mabel  took  the 
opportunity  to  survey  the  premises.  Cleanliness  is 
not  essential  to  Portuguese  comfort;  but,  within  the 
house,  there  was  not  the  squalor  and  poverty  which 
here  usually  characterises  the  peasant's  home.  With 
out,  a  small  orchard,  and  one  narrow  field,  a  few 
goats,  and  two  or  three  stout  asses,  seemed  to  comprise 
the  farmer's  possessions. 

On  sitting  down  to  an  abundant  breakfast,  she 
expressed  to  L'Isle  her  wonder,  how  these  people 
lived  in  such  plenty,  without  flocks,  or  herds,  or 
fields. 

"  You  are  mistaken,"  said  L'Isle.  "  Our  host  has 
flocks  so  numerous,  that  it  would  startle  you  to  hear 
their  numbers  told.  The  whole  country  for  miles 
around  is  pastured  by  them.  He  is  a  farmer,  or 
rather  grazier,  on  a  grand  scale.  Not  to  puzzle  you 
longer,  he  is  a  bee-farmer,  having  many  hundred 
hives.  This  land  of  flowers  yields  him  two  harvests 
a  year.  His  income  is  derived  from  wax  arid  honey, 
and  his  rustic  talk  is  not  of  bullocks,  but  of  bees. 
After  breakfast,  we  will  get  him  to  show  us  something 
of  the  economic  arrangements  of  his  farm." 

During  this  meal,  the  two  girls  seemed  anxious  to 
make  the  most  of  their  guests,  who  were  so  soon  to 
leave  them.  They  had  this  morning  put  on  their  best 
clothes,  and  all  their  trinkets.  Their  animated  and 
inquisitive  conversation,  addressed  chiefly  to  L'Isle 
as  spokesman  and  interpreter,  scarcely  allowed  him 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  223 

time  to  eat.  Their  restless,  sparkling  black  eyes,  ex 
cited  the  admiration  of  the  ladies.  "  Do  you  think 
black  eyes  the  most  expressive?"  said  Lady  Mabel  to 
L'Isle ;  and,  with  a  natural  coquetry,  she  turned  her 
own  blue  orbs  full  upon  him.  How  else  could  he 
judge,  but  by  a  comparison  ? 

"  There  is  a  liquid  lustre  in  the  full  black  eye," 
L'Isle  answered,  looking  into  those  of  the  girl  who 
was  sitting,  very  sociably,  close  beside  him,  "  which 
powerfully  expresses  languishing  tenderness.  It  is 
capable,  too,  of  an  angry  and  fierce  expression.  But 
from  its  dark  hues  you  cannot  distinguish  the  pupil 
from  the  surrounding  part,  and  lose  all  the  varying 
beauty  of  its  dilation  and  contraction.  There  are 
eyes  of  lighter  and  more  heavenly  hues,"  here  he 
looked  full  in  Lady  Mabel's,  while  describing  them, 
"  which  have  an  unlimited  range  of  expression,  em 
bracing  every  shade  of  feeling,  every  variety  of  senti 
ment.  They  are  tell-tale  eyes,  that  would  betray  the 
owner  in  any  attempt  to  play  the  hypocrite." 

Lady  Mabel,  laughing  and  blushing,  expressed  great 
doubts  whether  any  eyes  exercised  that  controlling 
guardianship  over  the  integrity  of  their  owner. 

As  soon  as  the  meal  was  over,  the  farmer,  at  their 
request,  gladly  undertook  to  show  them  some  thing 
of  his  peculiar  husbandry.  A  hive  or  two  may  be 
found  any  where — but  a  thousand  hives !  This  was  a 
great  proprietor*  Going  out  of  the  enclosure,  he  led 
them  to  a  neighboring  hill,  on  the  south-eastern  side 
of  which,  well  sheltered  from  the  northern  blasts, 


224  THE   ACTRESS  LS"  HIGH  LIFE. 

many  lanes,  five  or  .six  feet  wide,  had  been  cut  through 
the  thickets,  all  leading  to  a  central  point,  where,  well 
sheltered  by  the  natural  hedge,  he  had  formed  one  of 
his  numerous  colonies.  Last  night's  shower  had  re 
freshed  the  thirsty  vegetation,  washing  the  dust  from 
the  leaves  and  deepening  their  green  ;  some  diamond 
drops  still  hung  sparkling  on  the  foliage  ;  and  num 
berless  blossoms  were  opening  to  the  early  beams  of 
the  sun.  The  citizens  of  this  thriving  commonwealth 
were  literally  as  busy  as  bees,  and  the  region  was 
vocal  with  their  buzz.  The  ladies  shrunk  from  the 
well  armed  but  laborious  crowd  which  surrounded 
them,  going  forth  light  or  returning  laden  to  their 
homes  ;  but  the  farmer  assured  them  that  the  busy 
multitude  wrere  perfectly  tame,  and  as  harmless  as 
sheep,  unless  maliciously  disturbed. 

Though  this  was  but  one  of  several  colonies,  the 
hives  were  too  numerous  to  be  easily  counted.  They 
were  all  cylindrical  in  shape,  being  made  of  the  bark 
of  the  cork-tree,  which  is  an  excellent  non-conductor 
of  heat,  and  were  each  covered  with  an  inverted  pan 
of  earthenware,  the  edge  of  which  overhung  the  hive 
like  a  cornice.  Each  hive  was  fastened  together  with 
pegs  of  hard  wood,  so  that  it  could  be  easily  taken  to 
pieces,  and  the  joints  were  stopped  with  peat. 

Full  of  the  economy  of  the  industrious  tribes,  whose 
habits  he  had  studied  so  profitably,  the  farmer  talked 
long  and  well  on  the  subject.  From  him  they  learned 
that  the  bees  would  range  a  league  and  more  from  the 
hive,  if  they  could  not  gather  honey  nearer  home. 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  225 

That  he  gathered  two  harvests  a  year,  spring  and 
autumn  each  yielding  one,  while  the  cold  winter  and 
the  parched  and  blossomless  summer  equally  suspend 
ed  the  profitable  labor  of  his  winged  workmen.  He 
pointed  out  the  plants  whose  blossoms  were  preferred 
by  the  bees,  and  professed  to  be  able  to  distinguish 
the  honey  gathered  in  each  month,  varying  as  it  did 
in  qualities  according  to  the  succession  of  flowers 
which  bloomed  through  the  seasons,  and  he  gave  a 
preference  to  the  product  of  the  rosemary  over  all 
other  plants. 

Lady  Mabel  was  delighted  with  the  method  and 
the  scale  of  this  branch  of  rural  industry.  "  We 
have  Moors  enough  in  Scotland.  Indeed,  I  wish  so 
much  of  them  had  not  fallen  to  papa's  lot.  But  when 
I  go  home,  I  will  endeavor  to  turn  these  wastes  to  bet 
ter  account,  and  rival  our  friend  here,  by  establishing 
a  bee  farm  on  a  grand  scale." 

"  You  must  not  forget  to  carry  the  rosemary  and 
other  choice  plants  with  you,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge, 
"  and  some  beams  of  the  Portuguese  sun,  to  secure  two 
seasons  of  flowers  in  the  year." 

While  she  was  yet  speaking,  a  snake  glided  slowly 
across  her  path.  Starting  back  in  terror,  she  uttered 
a  little  scream,  and  begged  L'Isle  to  kill  it  without 
delay. 

"  How  shall  I  kill  it,"  he  said,  laughing  at  her 
alarm.  "  Shall  I  bruise  the  serpent's  head  with  my 
heel,  or  shall  I  draw  my  sword  on  a  reptile  ?" 

"  In  any  way  you  please,  so  you  do  kill  it,"  she 
10 


226  THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

exclaimed,  seeing  tlie  snake  stop  and  raise  its  head  to 
look  at  them. 

But  the  farmer  now  interfered  :  "  Spare  -his  life, 
this  is  one  of  my  best  friends. '  You  see  that  he  shows 
not  the  least  fear.  While  providing  for  himself,  he 
works  too  for  me,  destroying  the  frogs  and  lizards  that 
make  sad  havoc  among  my  bees." 

Returning  to  the  house,  they  found  in  front  of  it 
the  mules  laden  and  the  horses  saddled  for  the  jour 
ney.  Observing  that  Moodie  looked  particularly  rue 
ful  this  morning,  Lady  Mabel  asked  him  what  wras 
the  matter,  and  he  admitted  that  he  was  very  unwell. 
"  But  with  bad  food  and  worse  water,  loss  of  sleep  and 
worry  of  mind,  a  man  soon  gets  worn  out  in  this  un 
happy  country.  You,  my  lady,  look  jaded  enough,  too." 

u  Oh,  never  mind  my  looks,"  she  answered.  "  I 
feel  perfectly  well,  and  can  travel  on  until  I  get  tan 
ned  as  brown  as  these  Moorish  girls.  But  I  am  afraid 
Moodie,  you  are  paying  the  penalty  for  last  night's 
insult  to  the  patron  saint  of  the  house.  Some  saints 
are  at  times  a  little  revengeful,  and  your  troubled 
mind  and  aching  body  you  may  owe  to  "him.  Pray 
take  the  earliest  opportunity  to  make  amends." 

"Who  is  the  offended  saint?"  asked  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge. 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  it  is  St.  Meliboeus, 
the  patron  saint  of  bees  and  honey." 

"Take  care,"  said  L'Isle,  laughing.  "You  are 
usurping  the  Pope's  function,  and  adding  a  new  name 
to  the  calender." 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  227 

"  But  what  shall  we  do  for  Moodie  ?"  she  asked. 
"  Whether  stricken  by  the  saint  or  not,  something 
must  be  done  to  relieve  him." 

"  Your  saint  had  nothing  to  do  with  my  sickness," 
said  Moodie,  angrily.  "  I  was  unwell  yesterday, 
though  1  did  not  complain.  I  am  sure  I  was  poisoned 
by  that  rascally  innkeeper  at  Evora,  with  some  trash 
he  called  wine,  which  was  nothing  but  drugged 
vinegar." 

"  If  bad  wine  has  poisoned  you,  good  wine  is  the 
only  antidote,"  said  L'Isle,  and  bidding  his  servant 
bring  a  cup  and  bottle  from  the  hamper,  he  persuad 
ed  Moodie  to  try  the  remedy. 

Moodie  tasted  it  with  some  hesitation,  but  the  wine 
was  excellent,  and  in  truth,  just  what  he  stood  in  need 
of.  On  being  urged,  he  took  a  good  draught,  and  at 
L'Isle's  suggestion,  stowed  away  the  bottle  in^hie  valise 
for  future  reference. 

Their  host  would  receive  but  a  small  remuneration 
for  the  well  timed  hospitality  he  had  afforded  the 
travelers.  But  the  ladies  had  selected  sundry  spare 
articles  from  their  wardrobe,  and  delighted  his  daugh 
ters  with  the  gift  of  finery,  such  as  they  had  never 
possessed  before.  As  L'Isle  was  turning  to  ride  off, 
the  farmer  said,  with  a  courteous  [air :]  "When  you 
or  any  friend  of  yours  come  this  way,  pray  remem 
ber,  sir,  you  have  a  poor  house  here,  always  at  your 
command." 


228  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Crabbed  age  and  youth  cannot  live  together  j 
Youth  is  full  of  pleasure,  age  is  full  of  care; 
Youth  like  summer  morn,  age  like  winter  weather ; 
Youth  like  summer  brave,  age  like  winter  bare. 
Youth  is  full  of  sport,  age's  breath  is  short ; 
Youth  is  nimble,  age  is  lame ; 
Youth  is  hot  and  bold,  age  is  weak  and  cold ; 
Youth -is  wild,  and  age  is  tame. 

SHAKSPEARE. 

They  had  ridden  but  a  short  way,  when  Lady  Ma 
bel,  reining  in  her  horse,  placed  herself  along  side  of 
Moodie,  to  ask  how  he  felt  now.  She  feared  lest  he 
might  be  too  unwell  to  undergo  the  fatigues  of  the 
day.  But,  thanks  to  L'lsle's  prescription,  Moodie 
was  already  another  man.  He  sat  bolt  upright  in  the 
saddle,  with  a  martial  air,  and  looked  around  as  if 
ready  for  any  emergency.  She  no  longer  felt  any 
fears  for  him.  His  curiosity,  too,  seemed  to  be  awak 
ened,  for  he  said :  "  You  are  a  great  botanist,  my 
lady,  and  know  every  kind  of  plant.  Pray,  what  were 
those  two  tall  trees  near  the  farmer's  house,  with  bare 
trunks  and  feathery  tops  ?" 

" They  are  date  palms,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "You 
see  more  and  more  of  them  the  nearer  you  get  to 
Africa." 

"  Indeed !"  said  Moodie,  with  more  astonishment 
than  the  information  seemed  to  warrant. 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  229 

"  Yes,"  she  continued ;  "  and  they  bear  a  luscious 
and  nourishing  fruit,  which,  in  the  deserts  of  Africa,  is 
the  chief  food  of  the  people.  It  is  to  them  what  oat 
meal  is  to  the  Scot." 

"  And  how  far  are  we  from  Africa  ?"  said  Moodie, 
dreading  the  answrer,  but  striving  to  put  the  question 
in  an  indiiferent  tone. 

"  Why  some  people  say  that  Africa  begins  at  the 
Pyrenees,  but  Colonel  L'Isle,  who  knows  the  country 
thoroughly,  says  that  the  Sierra  de  Monchique  is  the 
true  boundary.  The  kingdom  of  Algarve,  lying  be 
yond  those  mountains,  is,  in  climate,  soil,  and  vegeta 
tion,  truly  African ;  and  it  is  only  the  strip  of  salt 
water  that  separates  it  from  Morocco,  that  prevents 
its  forming  part  of  that  country." 

"  I  never  heard  of  the  kingdom  of  Algarve  before," 
said  Moodie,  pondering  the  information  he  had  re 
ceived.  "  How  far  are  we  from  it  ?" 

*'  We  will  not  find  it  a  long  day's  journey  to  one  of 
the  chief  towns,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  Its  name — 
its  name  is  Mauropolis,  the  city  of  the  Moors.  It  lies 
on  the  border  of  Algarve,  just  like  Berwick  on  the 
border  of  Scotland,  only  Algarve  is  a  beautiful  and 
fertile  country,  which  poor  Scotland  is  only  to  a  Scot." 

"  It  is  an  ill  bird  that  fouls  its  own  nest,"  growled 
Moodie  in  an  undertone.  "  Have  you  forgot,  my  lady, 
that  you  are  yourself  a  Scot!" 

" A  Scot!"  said  she,  deliberately,  as  if  now  first 
considering  that  point.  "  My  mother  was  an  English 
woman.  So  far,  I  am  not  a  Scot." 


230  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  But  your  father !  Your  father,  my  lady  !"  Moodie 
angrily  exclaimed.  "  He  is  a  true  Scot,  and  knows 
the  worth  of  old  Scotland  well." 

"He  does,"  indeed,"  said  she;  uand  has  always 
thought  it  an  excellent  country — to  come  from  ;  so  he 
marched  oft'  at  eighteen,  and  has  seldom  been  hack 
there  since." 

"So  we  are  on  the  borders  of  Africa!"  exclaimed 
Moodie,  speaking  to  himself  aloud. 

"  Why,  do  you  not  see  Moodie,  that  the  people 
grow  darker,  each  day,  as  we  travel  on  ?" 

"  The  innkeeper  at  Evora  is  dark  enough,"  said  he, 
that  truth  flashing  on  him  ;  "  but  the  farmer  and  his 
girls  are  browner  still  by  many  a  shade." 

"You  will  think  them  fair,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"  when  you  have  traveled  far  enough  onward,"  and, 
leaving  him  confused  and  alarmed,  she  cantered  on  to 
join  Mrs.  Shortridge. 

Now  Moodie  wras  a  shrewd  man,  perhaps  a  little 
too  shrewd,  with  an  eye  open  to  human  depravity ; 
he  was  learned,  too,  in  his  way ;  many  a  heavy  tome 
of  Scotch  controversial  divinity  had  been  thumbed  by 
him  as  carefully  as  his  Bible;  but  he  never  dwelt  on 
any  thing  lie  found  there  not  sustaining  his  precon 
ceived  notions.  He  involuntarily  slighted  those  parts 
even  of  Scripture  that  he  could  not  wrest  to  his  pur 
pose.  Many  an  historical  and  traditionary  fact,  too, 
floated  loosely  on  his  mind  ;  but  his  geographical  edu- 
^cation  had  been  sadly  neglected.  A  topographical 
knowledge  of  half  a  dozen  shires,  a  general  notion  of 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  231 

the  shape  of  old  Scotland,  and  a  hazy  outline  of  the 
sister  kingdom,  made  up  all  he  had  attained  to.  Had 
you  laid  before  him  a  chart  of  the  sea  coast  ot  Bo 
hemia,  first  discovered  by  our  great  dramatist,  it 
would  not  have  startled  him  in  the  least,  and  he  was 
ready  to  look  for  Africa  at  any  point  of  the  com 
pass. 

He  now  saw  clearly  that  this  journey  was  part  of  a 
plot.  L'Isle  had  first  won  the  confidence  of  father 
and  daughter ;  then  availing  himself  of  her  love  for 
botany,  had  habituated  her  to  his  presence  and  pro 
tection  on  short  excursions  around  Elvas ;  he  had 
used  the  commissary  and  his  wife  to  beguile  Lady 
Mabel  from  her  father's  protection,  under  pretence  of 
a  short  journey  to  a  neighboring  town.  Having  now 
rid  himself  of  the  innocent  commissary,  he  was  lead 
ing  her  by  devious  paths  far  beyond  pursuit.  Lady 
Mabel  seemed  bewitched,  and  no  longer  saw  with  her 
own  eyes.  Was  Mrs.  Shortridge  a  simple  gull  or 
something  worse  ?  "  Perhaps,"  thought  Moodie, 
"  Colonel  Bradshawe  is  right ;"  for  an  eaves-dropping 
valet  had  given  his  scandal  wings. 

Moodie  was  not  deeply  read  in  romance*;  but  he 
remembered  the  traditionary  tale  of  the  young  Scotch 
heiress,  who,  while  a  party  of  her  retainers  were  es 
corting  her  to  the  house  of  her  guardian,  was  set 
upon  by  a  neighboring  chieftain  at  the  head  of  his 
clan.  Her  followers,  concealing  the  girl  under  a 
huge  caldron,  stood  round  it  for  her  defence,  and 
when  the  last  man  had  fallen  the  victorious  suitor  car- 


232  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

ried  off  the  girl,  and  married  her  for  her  lands.  This, 
too,  was  a  plain  case  of  abducting  an  heiress,  not  in 
deed  by  violence,  but  with  consummate  art.  Setting 
aside  the  rare  attractions  of  the  lady,  in  Moodie's  es 
timation  the  prize  was  immense.  L'Isle,  with  all  his 
lofty  airs,  was  but  a  commoner,  with  perhaps  no  fortune 
but  his  sword,  a  mere  adventurer,  and  Lord  Strathern's 
broad  acres  were  an  irresistible  temptation ;  though, 
in  truth,  this  coveted  domain  counted  thousands  of 
acres  of  sheep-walk  to  the  hundreds  of  plough  land. 

Having  made  this  matter  clear  to  his  own  mind, 
Moodie  cursed  in  his  heart  Lord  Strathern's  fatuity  and 
the  facile  disposition  Lady  Mabel  had  so  unexpectedly 
betrayed.  But,  though  sorely  troubled,  he  was  not  a 
man  to  despair.  He  resolved  to  watch  L'Isle  closely, 
and  to  rack  his  own  invention  for  some  way  to  foil  his 
schemes,  while  taking  care  not  to  betray  the  least  sus 
picion  of  them. 

Meanwhile,  Lady  Mabel,  as  she  could  not  herself 
visit  Algarve,  was  extracting  from  L'Isle  a  full  account 
of  that  delightful  region.  And  he  described  well  the 
picturesque  and  lofty  mountains  that  cut  off  its  nar 
row  strip  of  maritime  territory  from  the  rest  of  Port 
ugal  ;  its  tropical  vegetation  and  its  animal  life,  its 
perpetual  summer,  tempered  alternately  by  the  ocean 
and  the  mountain  breeze.  When  he  mentioned  any 
fact  which  Lady  Mabel  thought  might  liken  this  re 
gion  to  Africa  in  Moodie's  imagination,  hhe  would  turn 
and  repeat  it  for  his  benefit.  Thus,  the  wolves  and 
the  wild  boars  abounding  in  the  mountains,  became  to 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  233 

him  nameless  monsters  infesting  the  country  ;  the  ser 
pents  were  magnified  in  bulk,  and  the  poisonous  liz 
ard  redoubled  its  venom.  The  fevers  common  there 
grew  more  malignant ;  the  plague  broke  out  occasion 
ally,  and  a  few  earthquakes  were  thrown  in  to  enliven 
the  narrative.  She  garbled  it  too,  sadly,  suppressing 
the  fact  that  Algarve  had  furnished  a  large  proportion 
of  the  adventurers  who  had  discovered  and  conquered 
India  and  Brazil,  and  its  mariners  of  this  day,  the  best 
in  Portugal,  she  converted  into  Barbary  corsairs.  She 
said  nothing  about  Algarve  having  been  the  first 
province  to  rise  against  the  French,  or  about  the  half- 
dozen  adventurous  seamen  who  had  sailed  boldly  in  a 
fishing-boat  to  Brazil,  to  inform  the  regent  that  Port 
ugal  still  dared  to  struggle  and  to  hope. 

L'Isle  overheard  and  wondered  at  her  perversion  of 
his  account  of  Algarve,  without  detecting  her  motive, 
and  Moodie  thought  her  evident  desire  to  visit  this 
region  proved  her  little  less  than  mad,  for  only  her 
version  of  select  portions  of  L'Isle's  remarks  reached 
his  ears. 

"  It  is  singular,"  said  L'Isle,  "  that  the  Moors  should 
have  been  more  thoroughly  driven  out  of  Algarve, 
the  most  southern  province,  than  out  of  others  north 
of  it.  Its  maritime  position  perhaps  made  it  easy  for 
them  to  escape  to  Morocco.  But  the  people  are  not 
so  dark  as  in  Alemtejo,  and  many  of  the  women  are 
beautifully  fair.  In  fact,  I  have  seen  as  lovely  faces 
there  as  in  any  country  but  our  own." 

Lady  Mabel  took  care  not  to  enlighten  Moodie  by 
10* 


234  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

repeating  to  him  this  observation,  and  he  remained 
convinced  that  L'Isle  had  been  describing  beforehand 
to  the  ladies  the  country  he  was  leading  them  to. 

The  heat,  fatigue,  and  discomfort  of  the  last  four 
days  had  almost  worn  out  Mrs.  Shortriclge's  strength, 
and  now  suggested  to  Lady  Mabel  some  sage  reflec 
tions  on  travel  in  general,  as  the  result  of  her  ex 
perience. 

u  Traveling  is  certainly  one  of  the  pleasures  of  life, 
with  this  peculiarity,  that  it  affords  most  pleasure  when 
the  journey  is  over.  With  all  the  interest  and  excite 
ment  attending  it,  there  are  some  drawbacks.  We 
gratify  our  curiosity  at  times  at  no  little  cost.  In  the 
search  after  strange  manners,  the  traveler  may  have 
to  adopt  them  ;  in  inspecting  the  various  conditions 
under  which  men  can  live,  we  must  often  subject  our 
selves  to  these  conditions,  and  thus  acquire  practical 
experience  in  place  of  theoretical  knowledge.  We 
cannot,  like  Don  Cleofus,  command  the  services  of 
Asmodeus,  to  enable  us  to  be  lookers-on  without  be 
coming  parties  in  the  scenes  we  witness.  To  know 
how  the  Arab  lives,  we  must  for  a  time  become  an 
Arab  ;  and  to  pry  into  the  inner  mysteries  of  Hotten 
tot  life,  you  must  make  yourself  a  Hottentot." 

"  And  to  estimate  the  prisoner's  woes,"  L'Isle  sug 
gested,  "  you  must  try  the  virtues  of  a  dungeon — 
musty  straw,  and  bread  and  water." 

"That  would  be  buying  the  knowledge  dearly," 
said  she ;  "but  I  would  like  to  try  how  the  life  of  a 
nun  would  suit  me." 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  235 

"  It  would  suit  you  the  least  of  all  women,"  said 
Mrs.  Shortridge.  "  You  might  die  in  the  cloister,  but 
could  not  live  there." 

"  Oh,  I  am  sure  I  could  stand  a  short  novitiate,  say 
three  or  six  months,"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel. 

"Your  novitiate,  soon  to  end  in  freedom,"  said 
L'Isle,  "  would  not  help  you  to  the  experience  of  the 
true  internal  life  of  the  nun.  It  is  pleasant  to  walk, 
leading  your  horse  by  the  rein,  and  at  liberty  to 
mount  when  you  like;  but  the  essence  of  monastic 
life  lies  in  the  conviction  that  you  have  turned  your 
back  forever  on  the  world  without,  with  all  its  trials, 
its  hopes  and  fears,  its  passions  and  pursuits,  and  have 
given  yourself  religiously  to  tread  through  this  life, 
the  narrow  path  you  have  chosen,  to  the  next." 

"  You  have  convinced  me,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  In 
my  longing  after  a  varied  experience  of  the  conditions 
of  life,  I  might  sacrifice  half  a  year  to  the  trial  of  one, 
but  I  prefer  ignorance  on  this  point  to  the  burden  of 
a  life-enduring  vow." 

"  If  our  knowledge  were  limited  by  our  own  expe 
rience,  we  would  know  little  indeed,"  said  L'Isle. 
"  Our  capacity  to  bring  home  to  ourselves  other  con 
ditions  than  our  own,  depends  more  on  the  transferring 
and  transforming  faculties  of  the  imagination,  than  on 
the  observing  powers  of  the  eye.  If,  indeed,  we  had 
never  felt  bodily  pain,  we  could  not  feel  for  a  man  on 
the  rack.  Had  we  never  known  anguish  of  mind,  we 
might  not  estimate  the  mental  agonies  of  others.  But 
we  have  feelings,  for  the  exercise  of  which  sympathy 


236  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

and  imagination  can  create  conditions.  We  can  feel 
with  the  captive  in  the  dungeon,  without  going  down 
there  to  take  a  place  by  his  side." 

V  Still 'there  is  jiothing  like  experience  in  one's  own 
person,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge.  "  I  can  now  sym 
pathize  fully  with  the  toilworn  traveler,  across  a  parch 
ed  and  thirsty  desert,  under  a  broiling  sun.  I  own 
that  the  pleasures  of  this  journey  far  exceed  its  pains, 
thanks  to  your  care  and  company ;  but,  as  Lady  Ma 
bel  says,  the  chief  pleasure  comes  afterward,  and  this 
journey  will  be  still  more  pleasant  next  week  than 
now." 

"  In  spite  of  its  hardships,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  it 
has  been  so  agreeable  to  me,  that  I  would  have  it  last 
a  week  longer.  As  an  escort,  interpreter,  and  cicer 
one,  Colonel  L'Isle  has  no  rival.  He  has,  too,  filled 
the  commissary's  place  so  well,  that  we  have  suffered 
nothing  from  your  good  man's  desertion." 

The  pleasure  Lady  Mabel  expressed,  and  her  frank 
admission  that  she  wished  the  journey  longer,  delight 
ed  L'Isle.  He  longed  to  tell  her  that  he  was  ever  at 
her  command  as  companion,  guardian,  and  guide  on 
any  journey,  however  long.  But  no — he  must  not 
say  that.  He  had  no  thoughts  of  matrimony — at 
least,  just  now.  A  remote  prospect  did  indeed  float 
before  his  eyes,  in  which  he  saw  himself  having  out 
lived  this  war,  and  attained  the  rank  of  Major-Gen 
eral,  returning  home  to  find  Lady  Mabel  still  lovely 
and  still  free  to  listen  to  a  lover's  suit.  This  was  but 
a  bright  vista  of  the  future,  hemmed  in  and  overhung 


THE  ACTEESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  237 

by  many  a  dark  contingency,  a  glowing  picture  in  an 
ebony  frame. 

The  character  of  the  country  underwent  a  change 
as  they  rode  on.  Sloping  downward  toward  the 
Gnadiana,  over  a  succession  of  hills  which  concealed 
the  descent,  the  soil  became  more  fertile,  but  was 
scarcely  more  cultivated  than  in  the  region  which 
they  had  just  left  behind  them.  The  heaths  and 
broom  plants  now  gave  place  to  a  variety  of  ever 
green  shrubs.  Though  the  forest  trees  had  vanished 
centuries  ago,  the  prospect  was  often  shut  out  by  the 
thickets  that  overspread  the  country.  An  occasional 
spot  of  open  ground  indicated  some  attempts  at  culti 
vation,  but  they  saw  few  peasants,  and  but  one  village 
seated  on  a  hill,  until  passing  a  wretched  hamlet,  they 
reach  the  bank  of  a  brook.  The  shade  of  some  trees, 
already  in  full  leaf,  in  this  sheltered  spot,  tempted 
them  to  make  here  their  noonday  halt. 

Seating  herself  on  the  fern  and  moss  at  the  foot  of 
an  old  mulberry-tree  that  overhung  the  little  stream, 
Lady  Mabel  pointed  out  to  her  companions,  that  the 
trees  around  them  were  all  of  the  same  kind. 

"They  were  doubtless  planted  here,"  said  L'Isle, 
"  when  the  silk  culture  throve  in  this  country,  a 
branch  of  industry,  which,  with  too  many  others,  has 
almost  died  out.  Civil  disorder  and  foreign  war  have 
been  fatal  to  it.  The  Spaniards  have  made  Alemtejo 
their  highroad  in  every  invasion  of  Portugal  ;  and 
the  disasters  of  late  years  have  completed  the  ruins 
of  this  frontier,  so  long  a  debatable  land.  The  coun- 


238  THE   ACTRESS   IK   HIGH   LIFE. 

try  around,  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  heath-covered 
waste,  or  a  wilderness  of  brushwood  ;  here  the  silk 
worm  has  perished,  the  peasant's  hand  is  idle,  and  the 
amoreira  stands  with  unplucked  leaves." 

"The  better  for  us,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge ;  "we 
need  its  thickest  shade." 

A  solitary  stork,  by  the  rivulet,  was  engaged  in 
that  gentle  sport  which  Isaac  Walton  assures  us,  is  so 
favorable  to  tranquil  meditation.  Deep  in  reverie, 
the  philosopher  seemed  not  to  heed  their  presence. 
For  a  time,  he  stood  gravely  on  one  leg,  then  with  a 
few  stately  strides,  drew  nearer  to  them.  They  were 
commenting  on  his  sedate  air,  and  disregard  for  man's 
presence,  when  Moodie  came  and  sat  down  within 
ear-shot  of  them.  The  bird  now  raised  his  head  and 
gave  them  a  searching  look.  Then  bending  back  his 
long  neck,  he  uttered  a  dissatisfied  chatter  with  his 
snapping  beak,  and  taking  wing,  sought  a  sequestered 
part  of  the  stream,  remote  from  the  intruders. 

"  The  stork  would  not  thus  have  shunned  natives. 
He  must  have  found  out  that  we  are  foreigners  and 

O 

heretics,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge. 

"It  is  this  arch-heretic,  Moodie,  that  he  shuns," 
said  Lady  Mabel.  "  His  presence  would  drive  away 
a  whole  congregation  of  storks,  who  are  almost  as  good 
churchmen  as  the  monks  themselves." 

"  Perhaps  quite  as  good,"  said  Moodie.  "  My  arch- 
heresy  consists  in  protesting  now  and  always  against 
idolatrous  Rome.  Some  here  are  not  quite  as  good 
Protestants  as  I  am." 


THE  ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  239 

"I  never  called  myself  a  Protestant,"  said  L'Isle. 

"  Do  you  not,  sir  ?"  exclaimed  Hoodie.  "  Pray 
what  are  you  then  ?" 

"  I  never  called  myself  a  Protestant  in  defining  my 
faith." 

"And  why  not,  sir,"  asked  Moodie,  adding  in  an 
under  tone.  "  Now  he  will  show  the  cloven 
foot." 

"  Because  mine  is  a  positive  creed,  not  to  be  ex 
pressed  by  negation.  In  defining  it,  I  can  admit  no 
term  not  expressing  some  essential  point.  I  would 
not  mistake  the  accident  for  the  essence.  That  God 
has  given  his  revealed  word  to  man,  is  an  essential 
point  in  my  belief.  That  Rome  has  misconstrued 
that  word,  may  be  true,  but  comes  not  within  the 
scope  of  my  creed.  I  believe  that  Christ  by  his 
Apostles  founded  a  church  to  ramify  through  the 
world,  like  the  fruitful  vine  running  over  the  wall. 
Some  branches  may  have  rotted  off,  some  may  bear 
degenerate  fruit,  some  in  unpruned  luxuriance  may 
bring  forth  nothing  but  leaves.  Be  it  so.  My  belief 
is  that  the  branch  I  cleave  to  retains  its  vital  vigor  arid 
produces  life-sustaining  fruit." 

"  But  how  does  this  prevent  your  protesting  against 
Rome?"  objected  Moodie. 

"  It  prevents  my  making  that  protest  any  part  of 
the  definition  of  my  faith.  Names  are  things,  and  he 
who  is  perpetually  dubbing  himself  a  Protestant, 
ends  by  making  it.  the  first  article  cf  his  creed,  that 
Rome  errs,  and  his  active  religion  becomes  opposition 


240  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

to  Rome.  Now  I  find  Yoltaire  quite  as  good  a  Pro 
testant  as  you  are. 

"I  can  say  nothing  to  that,"  answered  Moodie, 
"  never  having  met  with  that  gentleman." 

L'Isle  smiled  for  a  moment,  but  went  on  earnestly 
to  say  :  "  We  believe  that  Christ  not  only  gave  us  a 
father,  but  founded  a  church,  and  we  will  not  let  go 
our  hold  upon  it,  as  some  sects  and  nations  have  done, 
out  of  mere  opposition  to  Rome.  Our  forefathers 
by  God's  providence,  set  earnestly  to  work  reforming 
it  where  corrupted,  repairing  it  when  dilapidated,  but 
did  not  pull  it  down,  in  the  presumptuous  hope  of 
building  up  another.  They  purified  the  temple,  but 
did  not  destroy  it.  They  removed  the  idols,  but  did 
plough  up  and  sow  with  salt  the  consecrated  spot,  be 
cause  it  had  been  defiled." 

"  I  see"  said  Moodie  warmly,  "  that  you  aim  }rour 
anathema  at  the  Kirks  among  other  Christian  bodies." 

"  Without  anathematizing  any  one,"  L'Isle  answer 
ed,  "we  take  comfort  to  ourselves,  in  the  conviction 
that  our  church  is  a  continuous  branch  of  that  which 
the  Apostles  founded  in  Christ,  and  that  it  might 
have  been  in  essentials  what  it  now  is,  were  its  history 
as  closely  connected  with  the  Greek  church,  as  it  is 
with  that  of  Rome,  or  had  it  ever  stood  unconnected 
with  either  of  them.  Never  having  been  rebuilt  from 
its  foundation,  it  has  lost  its  apostolic  character." 

"  You  have  given  many  branches  to  the  vine'planted 
by  Christ,"  observed  Moodie.  "Perhaps  you  admit 
the  Church  of  Rome,  to  be  one  that  still  bears  fruit." 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  241 

"  To  drop  the  figure  of  the  vine,  I  will  answer  you 
by  saying,  that  it  is  possible  for  a  Romanist  to  be  a 
Christian." 

"  Are  Christianity  and  idolatry  one  and  the  same?" 
said  Moodie,  indignantly. 

"  Do  you  know  how  many  dogmas  the  Kirk  and 
Rome  hold  in  common  ?"  answered  L'Isle.  "  If  you 
set  down  each  article  of  Christian  doctrine  in  the  or 
der  of  its  importance  and  certainty,  you  may  travel 
the  same  road  with  the  Romanist  a  long  way ;  nor  is 
it  easy  to  prove  that  Rome  does  not  hold  to  all  Chris 
tian  truths." 

Moodie  rose  from  where  he  sat  and  stretched  forth 
a  protesting  hand.  But  he  saw  that  protest  was  use 
less  here,  so  he  withdrew  to  the  shade  of  another  tree? 
and  sat  down  to  think  what  he  should  do  for  Lady 
Mabel's  safety.  To  refresh  himself  and  sharpen  his 
wits,  he  took  more  than  one  draught  from  the  bottle. 
The  wine  being  old,  mild  and  delicate  in  flavor,  he 
classed  it  in  the  same  category  with  small  beer,  far 
underrating  its  beguiling  potency.  This  vinho  madu- 
ro,  the  vino  generoso  of  the  Spaniard,  was  that  which 
maketh  glad  the  hea#t  of  man,  being  of  a  choice 
vintage  from  a  famous  vineyard.  It  was  rich,  oily 
and  deceiving. 

"  Had  Moodie  not  been  too  impatient  to  stay  with 
us  longer,"  said  L'Isle,  "he  might  have  heard  me 
admit,  that  though  the  Church  of  Rome  has 'kept  the 
truth,  it  has  not  been  content  with  it,  but  has  mingled 
with  it  so  large  a  mass  of  falsehood,  that  the  truth  it 


24:2  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

teaches  is  no  longer  pure.  It  has  not  thrown  away 
the  God-given  treasure,  but  it  has  piled  over  it  such 
an  ever  accumulating  heap  of  rubbish  that  it  is  not 
easily  found.  It  may  have  guarded  the  fountain  of 
life-giving  waters,  but  has  so  hedged  it  in  with  a 
labyrinth  of  superstitions  and  ceremonial  rites,  that  it 
is  almost  inaccessible  to  the  flock." 

"  Call  Moodie  back,  and  redeem  yourself  in  his 
opinion,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge.  "  He  is  now  mourn 
ing  over  your  approaching  conversion  to  Home." 

"  It  is  useless,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  Moodie  sets  no 
value  on  half-truths." 

"  Moodie  denies  there  being  any  Christianity  left 
in  Popery,"  said  L'Isle.  "  I  assert  that  there  is  many 
a  thorough,  though  unconscious  Papist  among  Protes 
tants.  Popery  is  not  so  much  an  accidental  bundle 
of  errors,  as  a  spontaneous  and  necessary  growth  from 
corrupt  human  nature.  Thus  many  a  charity,  with 
us,  originates  in  the  hope  of  atoning  for  sins  ;  many 
seek  salvation  through  vicarious  but  human  means ; 
many  a  sectarian,  especially  among  women  is  not  so 
much  the  member  of  «a  church,  as  the  follower  of  an 
idolized  man.  There  are  P**)testant  popes,  whose 
words  are  bulls  in  their  little  popedoms,  and  Protestant 
saints  who,  unlike  those  of  Rome,  are  canonized  in  life 
by  their  handful  of  followers." 

UI  think  I  could  find  a  patron  saint  for  Moodie," 
said  Lady  Mabel.  "  At  least  I  do  not  think  he  would 
have  been  startled  as  I  was,  on  hearing  a  minister  of 
the  Kirk,  after  exhausting  his  'powers  of  eulogy  on 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  243 

the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  crown  his  praise  by 
likening  the  prisoner  Paul  preaching  boldly  in  bonds 
before  the  lioman  governor,  in  whose  hand  was  his 
life,  to  John  Knox,  the  month-piece  of  the  dominant 
faction,  bullying  a  lady  and  his  queen,  a  capture  in 
their  hands.  This  was  a  strange  canonization  of  John 
Knox,  or  a  singular  degradation  of  St.  Paul.  But  I 
see  that  our  dinner  waits  us ;  and  though  this  is  a 
charming  spot,  we  must  not  linger  here  too  long.  I 
am  sure,"  she  added,  "  that  the  shy  and  meditative 
stork,  who  left  us  so  abruptly,  must  be  a  deep  theolo 
gian,  for  it  was  he  who  suggested  this  learned  discer- 
tation  on  the  church." 

The  travelers  dined  here  under  the  shade  of  the 
trees,  arid  soon  after  took  horse  again.  Moodie  threw 
himself  into  the  saddle  with  a  spirit  and  activity 
wrhich  led  Lady  Mabel  to  say :  "  Your  good  wine, 
Colonel  L'Isle,  has  done  wonders  for  Moodie.  It  car 
ries  him  well  through  the  labors  of  the  day." 

"  It  seems  to  have  cured  his  ailing  body,"  said 
L'Isle,  "  but  has  not  mellowed  his  temper.  He  grows 
more  crusty  than  ever." 

"  In  him,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  crustiness  is  the  natu 
ral  condition,  and  betokens  health." 

They  had  ridden  but  a  little  way,  when  she  heard 
Moodie  call  to  her,  and  reining  in  her  horse,  she  let 
him  come  up  alongside  of  her.  He  evidently  wished 
to  speak  to  her  in  private,  for  he  kept  silence  until 
L'Isle  and  Mrs.  Shortridge  were  out  of  hearing,  and 


244  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

looked  cautiously  round  to  see  that  the  servants  were 
not  too  near. 

"  My  lady,"  said  he,  in  a  solemn  manner,  "  I  have 
been  looking  at  you,  wondering  if  you  are  the  same 
girl  I  have  seen  for  years  growing  up  under  my^eye." 

"Another,  yet  the  same,"  said  she.  "I  have  not 
yet  quite  lost  my  personal  identity." 

"And  how  many  months  is  it  since  we  left  Scot 
land  ?"• 

"  Weeks  you  mean,  Moodie,  it  is  scarcely  yet  time 
to  count  by  months." 

"  Weeks,  then,  have  made  a  wondrous  change  in 
you." 

"I  suspect  that  often  happens  in  the  progress  of 
life,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  We  seem  to  stand  still  for 
a  while  at  a  monotonous  stage  of  our  existence ;  a 
sudden  change  of  condition  comes,  and  we  leap  for 
ward  toward  maturity."  So,  too,  we  may  for  years 
continue  young  in  heart  and  health;  some  heavy 
trouble  or  deep  grief  overtakes  us,  and  we  at  once  are 
old." 

"  It  is  not  a  leap  forward  in  life  that  you  have 
made,  but  a  leap  aside,  out  of  your  own  character. 
It  amazes  me  to  see  you  galloping  wildly  over  this 
outlandish  country,  without  a  thought  but  flowers, 
soldiers,  and  sightseeing.  I  sometimes  think  you  be 
witched." 

"What  is  more  likely?"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "To 
us  silly  women,  flowers,  soldiers,  and  sightseeing,  are 
the  most  bewitching  things  in  the  world." 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  245 

"  But  you  have  lost  all  caution,  all  fear,  and  let 
these  friends  of  yesterday  lead  you  you  know  not 
whither." 

"  Traveling  is  one  way  to  grow  wise ;  and  as  to 
danger,  what  did  you  leave  Craiggyside  for,  if  it  was 
not  to  take  care  of  me  ?" 

"  Heaven  knows  I  knew  not  what  I  undertook.  I 
find  one  young  lady  harder  to  look  after  than  twelve 
score  of  ewes,  the  kine,  and  the  crops,  with  the 
ploughmen,  shepherd,  and  dairy-maid  to  boot." 

"  Pray  do  not  tell  that  to  any  but  myself.  With 
such  a  character,  so  far  from  passing  for  a  lady,  I 
could  not  get  a  place  as  lady's  maid." 
1  "  You  may  laugh,  my  lady,  but  the  danger  is  real 
and  near.  I  do  not  trust  your  new  friends,"  and 
Moodie  shook  his  finger  at  them  before  him.  "  I 
know  what  is  ordered  must  come  to  pass,  and  it  is  sin 
ful  to  repine  at  it.  But  I  have  known  you  from  a  girl, 
a  child,  for  you  are  a  girl  still,  my  lady,  and  it  grieves 
my  heart  to  see  you  galloping  on  to  Rome  and 
ruin." 

"  Is  that  my  predestined  road  ?"  said  Lady  Mabel. 
"  Then  I  suppose  I  must  ride  it,  but  it  will  be  at  a 
spanking  pace,"  and  giving  her  horse  a  cut  she  dashed 
off  to  the  head  of  the  party,  while  Moodie  gazed  after 
her  in  despair. 

Hearing  the  tread  of  horses  close  behind  him,  he 
looked  round  and  saw  L'Isle's  servants  at  his  heels, 
watching  him  closely.  The  thought  struck  him,  that 
he  might  find  these  men  useful.  So,  falling  back 


246  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

pV 

alongside  of  them,  he  said  to  L'Isle's  man  :  "  Do  yon 
know  any  thing  of  the  strange  country  we  are  going 
to  now  ?" 

The  man  looked  around  for  a  moment  with  a  puz- 
z'ed  air,  but  perceiving  that  Moodie  was  under  some 
strange  mistake,  he  merely  said :  "  I  am  following 
my  master,  and  leave  him  to  choose  his  own  road." 

"  We  are  playing  the  game  of  follow  your  leader, 
Mr.  Moodie,"  said  the  groom,  dipping  into  the  dia 
logue.  "  The  Colonel  leads,  and  we  are  to  follow  you 
know;  and  d 1,  we  will  play  out  the  game." 

"  But  do  you  know  that  he  is  leading  you  to  the 
land  of  the  Moors?" 

"  If  he  is  going  to  the  land  of  the  great  Black-a- 
moor  himself,  we  must  shut  our  eyes  and  gallop  down 
hill.  His  country  is  said  to  lie  in  that  way." 

Moodie  muttered  something  about  a  son  of  Belial, 
but  he  wished  to  use  these  men,  and  not  offend  them. 
So,  turning  to  the  groom,  with  grim  sociability,  he 
asked :  "  Can  you  speak  the  language  of  the  people 
hereabouts  ?" 

"  I  can  call  lustily  for  meat  and  drink,  and  make 
my  wants  known  at  a  pinch." 

;'  Can  you  hire  me  a  messenger  at  the  next  place 
we  stop  at  ?  You  must  know,"  said  he,  in  a  confi 
dential  tone,  "  I  left  an  important  matter  sadly  ne 
glected  in  Elvas.  It  is  my  lord's  business,  and  I 
would  be  sorry  to  come  to  blame  in  it.  Whatever  it 
cost,  I  must  send  a  letter  there  without  delay,  and 
while  I  write,  you  must  find  man  and  horse.  He 


THE   ACTEESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  247 

,-  • 

shall  have  two  guineas  the  minute  the  job  is  done.  Is 
that  enough. 

"  Quite  enough,"  the  groom  answered,  gravely, 
while  his  companion  turned  away  his  head  to  conceal 
a  grin.  "  I  know  something  about  riding  express, 
and  for  two  guineas  I  will  find  you  a  man  to  ride  to 
Elvas  and  back  in  double  quick  time." 

"  You  shall  have  a  guinea  for  yourself,  if  you  prove 
a  man  of  your  word,  and  send  my  letter  in  time." 

"If  I  fail  you,  may  your  guinea  choke  me,  for  I 
mean  to  melt  it  down  into  good  liquor,"  said  the 
groom. 

"  And  I'll  help  him  to  drink  your  health  in  it,  Mr. 
Moodie,"  said  the  other  man.  "  For  a  guinea's  worth 
of  liquor  might  choke  a  better  man  than  Tom." 

With  hope  renewed,  Moodie  rode  on  after  his  mis 
tress.  On  coming  up  with  them,  he  heard  L'Isle  and 
Lady  Mabel  talking  Portuguese.  To  while  away  an 
idle  hour,  slie  was  taking  a  lesson  in  that  tongue. 
This  annoyed  Moodie,  who  suspected  some  plot,  when 
they  thus  kept  him  in  the  dark.  But  he  consoled 
himself  with  the  hope  that  his  important  dispatch 
would  yet  be  in  time  to  prevent  mischief,  and  he  once 
more  refreshed  himself  with  his  bottle,  being  now 
well  convinced  of  its  medicinal  virtue. 

Lady  Mabel  was  in  high  spirits,  talking  and  laugh 
ing,  and  occasionally  looking  round  at  Moodie,  en 
joying  the  deception  she  had  put  upon  him.  Her 
success  in  bewildering  him,  now  tempted  her  to  quiz 
L'Isle,  and  she  abruptly  said :  "  It  must  have  been  a 


248  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

m 

violent  fit  of  patriotism  and  martial  ardor  that  made 
you  abandon  the  thought  of  taking  orders,  and  quit 
Oxford  for  the  camp." 

"  I  never  had  any  thought  of  taking  orders,"  an 
swered  L'Isle,  surprised  and  annoyed,  he  knew  not 
exactly  why.  "  I  only  lived  with  those  who  had." 

"You  lived  with  them  to  some  purpose,  then,  and 
have,  too,  a  great  aptitude  for  the  church." 

"  It  is  not  my  vocation,"  said  L'Isle,  laconically. 

"  You  have  only  not  yet  found  it  out.  But  it  is 
not  too  late,"  she  persisted.  "  Your  case,  my  good 
man-slaying  Christian,  is  not  like  Gonsalvo's  of  Cor 
dova,  who  had  but  a  remnant  of  his  days  in  which  to 
play  the  penitent  monk.  These  wars  will  soon  be 
over,  and  you  are  still  young.  If  you  cannot  make  a 
general,  you  may  be  a  bishop  in  time.  Indeed,  I  al 
ready  see  in  you  a  pillar  of  our  church." 

It  was  not  flattering  to  an  ambitious  young  soldier 
to  hint  that  he  had  so  mistaken  his  calling.  L'Isle 
was  almost  angry,  at  which  Lady  Mabel  felt  a  mis 
chievous  delight ;  and  Mrs.  Shortridge  was  highly 
amused. 

"  It  is  but  a  small  inducement  I  can  offer  you, 
among  so  many  higher  motives,"  Lady  Mabel  con 
tinued.  "  But  I  promise  you,  that,  whenever  you 
preach  your  first  sermon,  I  will  travel  even  to  Land's- 
end  to  hear  it." 

"  Lady  Mabel  shall  offer  a  greater  bribe,"  said  Mrs. 

Shortridge,  with  an  arch  look.     "  If  you  will  only  ex- 

,  change  the  sword   for   the   surplice,  Colonel  L'Isle, 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  249 

whenever  she  commits  matrimony,  no  one  but  you 
shall  solemnize  the  rite." 

Far  from  being  tempted,  L'Isle  seemed  utterly  dis 
gusted  at  the  inducement. 

Lady  Mabel  blushed  to  the  crown  of  her  head,  and 
exclaimed,  "  I  am  too  fond  of  my  liberty  to  offer  that 
bribe.  That  is  a  high  and  bare  hill,"  she  said,  seeking 
to  divert  their  attention.  "  Let  us  ride  to  the  top  of 
it,  and  survey  the  country  around." 

"  You  may  do  so,  if  you  like,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge, 
composedly  ;  "  but  I  have  made  a  vow  to  do  no  extra 
riding  to-day.  This  road  is  long  enough  and  rough 
enough  for  me." 

Lady  Mabel  turned  from  the  path,  and,  followed 
by  L'Isle,  was  soon  ascending  the  hill.     Moodie,  some 
what  under  the  influence  of  his  soporific  draughts,  was 
in  a  reverie,  wondering  whether  Lord  Strathern  would 
get  his  letter  in  time  to  send  a  troop  of  horse  after  the 
fugitives,  and  whether  it  might  not  come  within  the 
provisions  of  the  military  code  to  have  L'Isle  court- 
martialed  and  shot  for  running  off  with  his  General's 
daughter,  when,  looking  up,   he  missed  Lady  Mabel, 
and  then  discovered  her  with  L'Isle,  scampering  over 
the   hill.     In   great   confusion,  he  rode   up   to  Mrs. 
Shortridge,  and  asked,  "  Where  are  they  going  now?" 
"  I  scarcely  know,"  she  answered;    "but  Colonel 
L'Isle  will  take  care  of  Lady  Mabel,  so  you  can  stay 
and  take  care  of  me." 

Moodie  cast  on  her  a  look  of  angry  suspicion,  which 
scanned  her  from  head  to  foot,  and  plainly  pronounced 
11 


250  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

her  no  sufficient  pledge  for  his  mistress.     Spurring 
his   horse,  he  followed  Lady  Mabel  at  a  run.     The 
animal  he  rode  had  often  carried  fifteen  stone,  in  Lord 
Strathern's  person,  over  as  rough  ground  as  this,  and 
made  light  of  Hoodie's  weight,  which  was  scarcely 
more  than  nine.     Without  picking  his  way,  he  made 
directly  for  his  companions  ahead  ;  and  the  clatter  of 
his  hoofs  soon  making  Lady  Mabel  look  round,  she 
drew  up  her  horse  in  haste,  and  anxiously  watched 
Moodie's  career.     A  deep  chasm,  washed  out  by  the 
winter  rains,  was  cleared  by  the  horse  in  capital  style, 
but  Moodie  lit  on  his  valise,  and  with  difficulty  re 
covered  the  saddle.     Just  between  him  and  Lady  Ma 
bel  the  last  tree  on  the  hill-side,  torn  from  the  shallow 
soil  by  some  heavy  blast,  lay  horizontally  on  its  de 
caying  roots  and  branches.     Moodie  rode  at  it  with 
unquailing  eye,  and,  while  Lady  Mabel  uttered  an  ex 
clamation  of  alarm,  the  horse  cleared  it  in  a  bucking 
leap,  throwing  Moodie  against  the  holsters  ;  but  he  fell 
back  into  his  seat,  and  rode  up  triumphantly  to  his 
mistress.      This    energetic   demonstration  seemed   to 
overawe  Lady  Mabel.     Turning  from  the  hill-top  be 
fore  them,  she  rode  demurely  back  to  the  party,  re 
solved  not   to  wander  from  the  beaten  path,  or  go 
faster  than  a  foot-pace,  until  Moodie  had  dismounted, 
and  his  neck  was  safe. 

A  peasant  on  an  ass,  coming  down  the  road,  had 
stopped  and  stood  at  gaze  at  a  distance,  watching 
these  equestrian  manoeuvres.  But  when  he  saw  the 
party,  now  united,  coming  toward  him,  he  turned 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  251 

short  to  the  left,  and  hastened  away  at  a  pace  that 
proved  that  his  lurro  had  four  nimble  legs. 

"  That  must  be  a  thief,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge, 
"  afraid  of  falling  in  with  honest  folks." 

"  Or  an  honest  man,"  suggested  L'Isle,  "  afraid  of 
falling  among  thieves.  I  have  observed  a  growing 
dislike  in  the  peasantry  to  meeting  small  parties  of 
our  people  in  out  of  the  way  places.  I  suspect  that 
they  are  sometimes  made  to  pay  toll  for  traveling  their 
own  roads." 

Their  road  was  winding  round  the  side  of  the  hill, 
and  they  presently  got  a  glimpse  of  a  cultivated  val 
ley  before  them.  The  spirit  of  mischief  suddenly  re 
vived  in  Lady  Mabel's  bosom.  She  fell  back  alongside 
of  Moodie,  and  said :  "  This  way  seems  much  travel 
ed.  It  is  no  longer  a  by-path  ;  we  may  call  it  a  high 
road  in  this  country.  We  must  be  drawing  near  to 
the  city  of  Mauropolis.  I  wonder  we  have  yet  met 
none  of  these  turbaned  Moors." 

Moodie  roused  himself,  and  looked  anxiously  ahead. 
The  mountain  shadows  already  fell  upon  the  valley  ; 
but  the  evening  sun  still  shone  upon  a  city  opposite 
to  them.  It  was  seated  high  above  the  valley,  and 
flanked  by  two  fortresses  of  unequal  elevation,  which 
partly  hid  it.  The  Serra  de  Portalagre  rising  behind, 
overhung  it,  and  the  city  seemed  nestled  in  a  nook  in 
the  steep  mountain  side.  Moodie  from  this  point  did 
not  recognize  the  place,  but  gazed  on  it  steadfastly, 
with  no  kindly  feeling.  "  Edom  is  exalted.  He  hath 
made  his  habitation  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock.  He 


252  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

sayeth  in  his  heart,  who  shall  bring  me  down  ?"  But 
presently  he  distinguished  the  peculiar  aqueduct,  and 
his  eye  roving  westward,  was  struck  by  the  familiar 
outline  of  Serra  jyOssa. 

"  We  have  lost  our  road,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  and 
found  our  way  back  to  Elvas  ;"  and,  laughing  merrily, 
she  shot  ahead,  leaving  Moodie  too  much  angered  and 
mortified  to  enjoy  the  relief  of  his  anxieties. 

On  reaching  his  quarters  he  went  straight  to  his 
bed,  to  sleep  off  his  fatigue,  his  chagrin,  and  the  good 
wine  which  had  befriended  yet  beguiled  him. 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  253 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

It  snowed  in  his  house  of  meat  and  drink, 
Of  all  dainties  that  men  could  of  think ; 
After  the  sundry  seasons  of  the  year, 
So  changed  lie  his  meat  and  soupere. 
Full  many  a  fat  patriarch  had  he  in  mew, 
And  many  a  breme  and  many  a  luee  in  stew ; 
Wo  was  his  cook,  but  if  his  sauce  were 
Poignant  and  sharp,  and  ready  all  his  gere, 
His  table  dormant  in  his  hall  alway, 
Stood  ready  covered  all  the  long  day. 

Prologue  to  Canterbury  Tales. 

THREE  days  had  gone  by  since  the  return  of  the 
party  trom  Evora.  The  ladies  had  gotten  over  their 
fatigue,  talked  over  their  travels,  and  wondered  at 
seeing  nothing  of  L'Isle.  He  had  merely  sent  to  in 
quire  after  their  health,  instead  of  coming  himself,  as 
in  duty  bound.  Lady  Mabel  had  confidently  looked 
for  him  the  first  day,  asked  about  him  the  next,  and 
on  the  third,  feeling  hurt  at  this  continued  neglect, 
concluded  that  she  had  had  enough  of  his  company 
of  late,  and  it  did  not  matter  should  she  not  see  him 
for  a  month. 

Meanwhile,  what  was  L'Isle  doing  ?  lie  was  busy 
reforming  himself  and  his  regiment.  On  his  return 
to  Elvas  he  had  met  with  several  little  indications  of 
relaxed  discipline,  and  somewhat  suddenly  remem- 


254  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

bered  that  he  had  not  come  out  to  Portugal  to  ride 
about  the  country,  escorting  young  ladies  in  search  of 
botanical  specimens,  picturesque  scenes,  and  fragments 
of  antiquity.  He,  the  most  punctilious  of  martinets, 
had  been  sadly  neglecting  his  duties,  and  had  used 
the  invalid's  plea  until  it  was  worn  threadbare  long 
ago.  He  was  dissatisfied  with  himself,  and,  of  course, 
more  dissatisfied  with  other  people." 

From  the  day  he  came  back  he  was  constantly  in 
the  midst  of  his  regiment.  He  showed  himself,  too, 
at  the  head  of  the  mess  table  at  every  meal,  taking 
that,  as  well  as  other  opportunities,  to  inculcate  rigid 
precept  and  sound  doctrine  on  military  matters,  and 
lecture  his  officers  on  the  subject  of  discipline.  ISTor 
did  he  confine  himself  to  generalities.  He  was  exact 
ing  with  his  major,  hard  on  his  adjutant ;  he  gave 
Captain  A—  -  to  understand  that  the  days  and 
nights  spent  in  the  mountains  in  pursuit  of  his  game 
tended  little  to  promote  the  King's  service,  and  that 
leave  would  be  refused  in  future,  and  he  suggested  to 
Captain  B—  —  that  the  best  way  to  ascertain  the 
state  of  his  company  was  not  to  send  for  his  orderly 
sergeant,  but  to  inspect  it  himself.  He  spoiled  more 
than  one  party  of  pleasure  for  some  of  these  gentle 
men  by  finding  very  inopportunely  something  else  for 
them  to  do  than  following  the  ladies  of  Elvas  and 

O 

other  game  of  the  vicinage. 

Many  of  the  officers  grumbled,  and  voted  the 
colonel  a  bore.  They  even  talked  of  sending  him  to 
Coventry.  But  Adjutant  Meynell  excused  him  by 


THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE.  255 

whispering  it  about  that  the  colonel  had  just  met  with 
a  rude  rebuff  from  a  certain  person  at  headquarters, 
and  as  the  rank  and  sex  of  the  offender  hindered  his 
showing  his  resentment:  in  that  direction,  on  whom 
could  he  vent  his  ill-humor  but  on  those  under  his 
command?  Meynell  advised  that  they  should  all 
unite  in  sending  a  round  robbin  to  Lady  Mabel,  beg 
ging  her  to  smile  upon  their  colonel,  and  put  him  in 
an  amiable  mood. 

With  the  little  festive  skirmishes,  of  almost  daily 
occurrences  at  headquarters,  Lord  Strathern  loved  to 
mingle  occasionally  more  serious  affairs,  in  the  shape 
of  grander  feasts ;  and  on  the  fourth  day  after  Lady 
Mabel's  return,  the  guests  assembled  in  force.  Among 
them  were  three  ladies  of  Elvas,  who  had  established 
a  social  intercourse  with  Lady  Mabel,  and  a  greater, 
though  less  ostensible  intimacy  with  some  gentlemen 
of  the  brigade.  Dinner  company  is  a  phase  of  social 
life  almost  unknown  in  Portugal,  and  Lady  Mabel, 
aware  of  this,  was  needlessly  anxious  to  put  her 
female  guests  at  their  ease.  Her  smattering  of  their 
tongue  proved  inadequate,  and  even  her  Spanish  but 
poorly  served  the  purposes  of  conversation.  Dona 
Oarlotta  Sequiera,  indeed,  despising  the  peninsular 
tongues,  would  speak  only  French — but  such  French  ! 
She  had  picked  up  most  of  it  among  Keller-man's  offi 
cers,  when  he  held  Elvas  with  a  French  garrison  in 
1S08.  This  lady,  like  some  other  renegade  Portu 
guese,  at  that  time  assiduously  courted  the  Gaul ;  and 
she  was  anxious  now  to  wipe  out  this  blot,  in  the  eyes  of 


256  THE  ACTEESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

her  countrymen,  by  making  much  of  their  British 
allies.  Lady  Mabel,  tired  of  her  efforts  to  con 
verse  with  the  other  ladies,  and  sick  of  Dona  Car- 
lotta's  French, 

"  After  the  school  of  Stratford  at  bow, 
For  French  of  Paris  was  to  her  unknow  " — 

longed  to  see  her  self-appointed  dragoman  enter  the 
room. 

L'Isle  had  ridden  out  in  the  morning  to  a  place  on 
the  borders,  equi-distant  between  Elvas  and  Badajoz, 
the  scene  of  a  serious  outrage  by  a  party  of  maraud 
ers  two  nights  before.  A  peasant,  guilty  of  being 
richer  than  his  neighbors,  had  been  punished  by  hav 
ing  his  house  forced,  his  head  broken,  his  premises 
sacked,  and  his  family  ill-treated.  Though  there  had 
been  but  little  blood  shed,  there  had  been  much  wine 
spilt,  besides  several  plump  goat-skins  carried  off  with 
the  rest  of  the  plunder.  The  English  in  Elvas  laid 
this  achievement  at  the  door  of  the  irregular  Spanish 
force  at  Badajoz.  The  Spanish  officers  were  quite  as 
sure  that  it  was  the  exploit  of  volunteer  foragers 
from  the  English  cantonments.  L'Isle,  seeing  nobody 
disposed  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  wrent  and  made  an 
examination  on  the  spot,  which  inclined  him  to  be 
lieve  that  the  Spanish  version  was  the  true  history  of 
this  little,military  operation.  After  a  hot  ride  he  re 
turned  in  time  to  make  his  bow  to  Lady  Mabel  among 
the  latest  of  her  guests. 

Mrs.  Shortridge  was  very  glad  to  see  him,  but  re- 


THE  ACTEESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  257 

preached  him  with  his  late  neglect  of  his  friends  ;  and 
turned  toward  Lady  Mabel,  expecting  her  concurrence 
in  this  censure.  But  my  lady  said,  with  sublime  in 
difference  :  "  What  matters  Colonel  L'Isle's  absence 
hitherto,  since  he  has  now  come  in  time  to  interpret 
between  us  and  our  Portuguese  friends?  I  have  ex 
hausted  my  stock  of  Portuguese,"  she  continued,  ad 
dressing  L'Isle ;  "  and  find  that  they  do  not  always 
comprehend  my  Spanish.  Major  Warren,  indeed,  has 
been  lending  me  his  aid  ;  but  I  think  the  interpreter 
the  harder  to  be  understood  of  the  two.  Is  it  not 
strange  these  ladies  do  not  understand  me  better ;  for 

O  ' 

their  language  is  but  bad  Spanish,  and  mine  is  surely 
bad  enough." 

"  Do  not  say  that  to  the  Portuguese,"  said  L'Isle. 
"They  will  be  justly  offended;  for  their  tongue  is 
rather  the  elder  sister  of  the  Spanish  than  a  corruption 
of  it." 

"  Pray,  lend  me  your  tongue,  Colonel  L'Isle,"  said 
Mrs.  Shortridge.  "  Here  Dona  Carlotta  Sequiera  has 
been  jabbering  at  me  in  what  I  now  find  out  to  be 
French ;  but  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  I  do  not  know 
thirty  words  of  the  language." 

"Better  to  be  ignorant  of  it,"  said  L'Isle  with  a 
sneer,  "than  learn  it  as  Dona  Carlotta  did." 

"  I  know  not  how  she  acquired  it,"  said  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge,  "  but  I  am  told  that  here  on  the  continent  every 
educated  person  speaks  French.  We  English  are  far 
behind  them  in  that." 

"  Be   proud   rather   than   ashamed   of  that,"   said 
11* 


258  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

L'Isle.  "  Monsieur  has  tanglit  all  Europe  his  lan 
guage  except  ourselves.  Flagellation  is  a  necessary 
part  of  schooling.  As  he  lias  never  been  able  to 
thrash  us,  we  are  the  worst  French  scholars  in  Europe, 
and  those  he  has  thrashed  oftenest,  are  the  best. 
They  should  blush  at  their  knowledge ;  we  plume  our 
selves  on  our  ignorance.  Thank  God  you  have  an 
English  tongue  in  your  head,  and  never  mar  a  better 
language  with  a  Gallic  phrase.  There  is  in  every  coun 
try  a  class  who  are  prone  to  denationalize  themselves; 
at  this  day,  they  generally  ape  the  Frenchman.  Now, 
I  can  tolerate  a  genuine  Frenchman,  without  having 
any  great  liking  for  him  ;  but  if  there  is  any  one 
whom  I  feel  at  liberty  to  despise  and  distrust,  it  is  a 
German,  Spaniard  or  Englishman,  who  is  trying  to 
Frenchify  himself.  Such  people  are  much  akin  to  the 
self-styled  citizen  of  the  world,  who  professes  to  have 
rid  himself  of  all  local  and  national  prejudice.  I 
have  usually  met  no-prejudice  and  no-principle  walk 
ing  hand  in  hand  together.  The  French,"  he  contin 
ued,  "  have  the  impudence  to  call  theirs  the  universal 
language  ;  and  in  diplomacy  and  war,  they  have  been 
long  too  much  encouraged  in  this.  My  Lord  Well 
ington  here  is  much  to  blame  in  giving  way  to  their 
pretensions  on  this  point.  Whenever  I  have  an  inde 
pendent  command,"  said  L'Isle  laughing,  "  I  will  not 
let  a  Frenchman  capitulate  but  in  good  English,  or 
for  want  of  it,  in  some  other  language  than  his  own. 
I  have  already  put  that  in  practice  in  a  small  way," 
said  he,  as  he  handed  Mrs.  Shortridge  down  to  din- 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  259 

ner.  "I  once  waylaid  a  foraging,  anglice,  a  plunder 
ing  party,  returning  laden  to  Merida.  They  showed 
fight,  but  we  soon  tumbled  them  into  a  barranca, 
where  we  had  them  quite  in  our  power.  But  I  would 
not  listen  to  a  word  of  their  French,  or  let  them  sur 
render,  until  they  found  a  renegade  Spaniard  to  act 
as  interpreter.  When  I  want  anything  of  them,  I 
may  speak  French  ;  but  when  they  want  anything  of 
me,  they  must  ask  it  in  another  tongue." 

The  dinner  went  off  as  large  dinners  usually  do. 
The  wrong  parties  got  seated  together,  and  suitable 
companions  were  separated  by  half  the  length  of  the 
board.  Lady  Mabel  had  Colonel  Bradshawe,  whom 
she  did  not  want,  close  at  hand  ;  and  her  dragoman 
was  out  of  hearing,  which  she  felt  to  be  -not  only  in 
convenient,  but  a  grievance;  for  without  entertaining 
any  definite  designs  upon  him,  habit  had  already 
given  her  a  sort  of  property  in  him,  and  a  right  to 
his  services.  But  the  Elvas  ladies  had  no  such  ground 
of  complaint.  Each  had  her  favorite  by  her  side,  and 
Dona  Carlotta  one  on  either  hand. 

It  was  a  relief  to  Lady  Mabel  when  the  time  came 
to  lead  the  ladies  back  to  her  drawing-room.  There 
she  labored  to  entertain  them  until  some  of  the  gen 
tlemen  found  leisure  to  come  to  her  aid.  She  expect 
ed  to  see  L'Isle  among  the  first ;  but  one  after  another 
came  in  without  him ;  the  Portuguese  ladies  were 
taken  off  her  hands  by  their  more  intimate  male 
friends,  and  she  had  leisure  to  wonder  what  could 
keep  L'Islo  down  stairs  so  long,  and  to  get  but  of  hu- 


260  THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

mor  at  his  sticking  to  the  bottle,  and  neglecting  bet 
ter  company  for  it. 

Meanwhile,  a  great  controversy  was  waging  below. 
The  more  the  disputants  drank,  the  more  strenuously 
they  discussed  the  point  at  issue  ;  and  the  more  they 
exhausted  themselves  in  argument,  the  oftener  they  re 
freshed  themselves  by  drinking ;  swallowing  many  a 
glass  unconsciously  in  the  heat  of  the  debate. 

The  farmer  talks  of  seasons  and  his  crops ;  the 
merchant  of  traffic  and  his  gains ;  and  the  soldier, 
though  less  narrow  in  his  range  of  topics,  often  dwells 
on  the  incidents  and  characteristics  of  military  life. 
In  answer  to  some  very  loose  notions  on  the  subject 
of  discipline,  L'Isle  mounted  his  hobby,  and  said  that 
he  had  pretty  much  come  into  the  mechanical  theory 
on  military  matters.  "  An  army  is  a  machine ;  the 
men  composing  it,  parts  of  that  machine ;  and  the 
more  their  personal  and  individual  characters  are 
obliterated,  by  assimilating  them  to  the  nature  of 
precise  and  definite  parts  of  one  complicated  organi 
zation,  the  better  will  they  serve  their  purpose.  Now, 
a  machine  should  be  kept  always  in  perfect  order  and 
readiness  for  instant  application  to  the  purpose  of  its 
construction.  An  army  is  a  machine  contrived  for 
lighting  battles  ;  and  if  at  any  time  it  is  not  in  a  con 
dition  to  fight  to  the  best  advantage,  it  is  in  a  state  of 
deterioration  and  partial  disorganization.  Troops, 
therefore,  should  be  kept,  at  all  times  and  under  all 
circumstances,  under  the  same  rigid  discipline,  and  in 


THE  ACTEESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  261 

the  full  exercise  of  their  functions,  equally  ready  at 
all  seasons  for  action." 

Lord  Strath ern  took  up  the  cudgels  and  maintained 
that  though  an  army  might  be  called  a  machine,  its 
component  parts  were  men,  who  necessarily  had  some 
perception  of  the  contingencies  and  emergencies  inci 
dent  to  military  life,  and  that  great  as  were  sacrifices 
they  might  make,  and  the  restrictions  they  might  bear 
with  when  there  was  obvious  necessity  for  them, 
should  the  same  exacting  course  be  pursued  as  a 
system,  it  would  only  break  their  spirits,  freeze  their 
zeal,  and  disgust  them  with  the  service.  "  We  have 
seen  enough  of  your  mechanical  armies,  drilled  and 
regulated  to  perfection,  as  soulless  mechanism.  We 
have  seen  how,  on  the  dislocation  of  this  machine,  the 
parts  became  useless  and  helpless,  without  resource 
in  themselves.  In  short,  it  is  the  Prussian  and  Aus 
trian  system  which  has  given  half  Europe  to  the 
French.  No ;  if  the  bow  need  unbending,  still  more 
does  the  soldier  need  relaxation,  to  give  vigor  and 
elasticity  to  body  and  mind.  A  little  ease  and  plea 
sure  chequering  his  career  only  beget  desire  and  the 
motives  for  new  adventure  and  fresh  exertions.  How 
is  it  with  our  horses,"  exclaimed  his  lordship,  who 
was  a  jockey  of  the  old  school.  "Do  we  not  give 
them  a  run  at  grass,  to  refresh  their  constitutions  and 
renew  their  youth  ?" 

But  L'Isle  unshaken  maintained  his  opinion,  "With 
such  materials  as  make  up  a  large  part  of  our  army, 
for  his  majesty  gets  the  services  of  many  a  fellow  who 


262  THE   ACTRESS   IN"  HIGH   LIFE. 

can  be  put  to  no  good  use  at  home,  your  lordship's 
relaxation  system  would  only  tencl  to  sap  its  moral 
and  physical  strength,  and  make  it  a  curse  to  the 
country  in  which  it  is  quartered,  whether  at  home  or 
abroad." 

It  would  have  been  well  had  the  discussion  stopped 
here.  In  the  heat  of  debate  each  pushed  his  argu 
ment  beyond  his  own  convictions.  Colonel  Brad- 
shawe  sat  sipping  his  wine,  listening  with  mock  grav 
ity  and  seeming  to  oscillate  between  the  opinions  of 
the  disputants,  but  most  of  the  company  agreed  with 
Lord  Strathern ;  still  L'Isle  found  several  staunch 
backers  for  his  mechanical  theory.  But  when  quoting 
facts  in  support  of  his  views,  he  referred  to  the  con 
duct  of  their  own  men  on  sundry  late  occasions,  and 
stated  the  result  of  the  inquiries  he  that  morning  had 
made  into  the  last  outrage,  he  brought  the  whole 
company  down  upon  him.  They  were  all  sure  that 
the  English  soldiers  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  His 
lordship  professed  to  detect,  not  only  in  the  act  itself, 
but  in  the  modus  operandi,  infallible  marks  that  fath 
ered  it  on  the  Spaniard.  The  quiet,  stealthy  manner, 
the  place,  just  on  the  border,  yet  out  of  Spain.  u  Be 
sides,"  he  urged,  "  you  yourself  say,  that  the  few 
words  the  marauders  were  heard  to  utter  were  all 
Spanish." 

"  But  the  same  testimony  proves  them  to  have  been 
bad  Spanish,  even  to  the  ears  of  a  Portuguese  bord 
erer,  and  evidently  used  by  foreigners  for  the  purpose 
of  disguise,  like  the  dresses  they  wore.  Who  ever 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  263 

heard  of  a  Spaniard  breaking  a  man's  head,  when  he 
could  give  him  the  blade  of  his  knife  ?  The  farmer's 
bloody  crown  was  a  plain  piece  of  English  handicraft. 
Spaniards  would  have  rummaged  the  house  for  la 
plata,  and  have  snatched  the  earrings  from  the  women's 
ears  ;  the  robbers,  a  more  thirsty  race,  thought  chiefly 
of  carrying  off  the  liquor." 

The  number  and  loud  voices  of  those  opposed  to  him 
only  made  L'Isle  more  stubborn  in  maintaining  his 
views.  He  seemed  rather  to  like  being  in  a  minority 
of  one.  On  the  other  hand,  Lord  Strathern  construed 
his  remarks  into  an  undisguised  censure  of  his  lax  dis 
cipline.  Luckily  he  was  a  truly  hospitable  man  :  no 
where,  but  at  his  own  board,  could  he  have  kept  his 
temper  under  control.  Between  the  fumes  of  wine 
and  smoke  of  cigars,  the  matter  only  became  more  and 
more  cloudy.  It  was  late  when  L'Isle  left  the  table 
and  entered  the  drawing-room,  with  a  brow  still 
ruffled  by  the  controversy. 

Striving  to  resume  his  equanimity,  he  took  a  seat 
by  Lady  Mabel.  But  she,  by  no  means  pleased  at 
the  long  absence  of  her  interpreter,  and  his  late 
neglect  in  attending  on  her,  pushed  her  chair  back, 
and  said  something  about  "  falling  into  bad  habits." 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?"  said  L'Isle,  looking  surprised, 
then  reflecting  a  moment.  "  Why,  Lady  Mabel,  I  am 
not  aware  of  having  committed  any  excess,  at  least  of 
the  kind  you  suspect." 

"Why,  then,  do  you  come  from  below  so  much 
heated  and  excited  ?" 


264  THE  ACTRESS  IX  HIGH  LIFE. 

"  I  have  "been  engaged  in  a  hot  argument  with  my 
Lord,  and  others." 

"  Coolness  would  be  more  appropriate  to  argument 
than  heat.  But  this  was  plainly  an  after-dinner  dis 
cussion.  The  subject  should  be  handled  a  second  time, 
in  imitation  of  those  wise  barbarians,  who  resolved  on 
nothing  until  they  had  twice  taken  counsel,  once  of 
their  cups,  and  then  of  cool  sobriety  the  morning  after." 

"I  feel  no  need  of  appealing  to  the  cool  reflecting 
morning  hours." 

"  Of  course  you  do  not  feel  it  now  ;  that,  too,  will 
come  with  the  sober  morning." 

L'Isle,  a  good  deal  nettled,  was  about  to  reply,  when 
she  exclaimed,  "  Why,  you  have  been  smoking!" 

"  No,  I  have  only  been  smoked." 

"  That  is  just  as  unpleasant,"  she  said,  pushing  her 
chair  farther  off.  "The  Portuguese  snuff-taking  is 
offensive  enough,  but  this  Spanish  habit  of  smoking 
perpetually  is  intolerable.  Wherever  our  officers  go 
they  pick  up  the  small  vices  of  the  country,  without 
abandoning  any  of  their  own.  Here  they  add  smok 
ing  to  their  native  wine-bibbing  propensities.  They 
spoil  a  man  utterly." 

"  Not  utterly,"  said  L'Isle  ;  "  there  is  Warren  now, 
a  capital  fellow,  a  delightful  companion,  and  an  in 
veterate  smoker." 

"  For  that  I  cannot  abide  him,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
out  of  humor  with  everybody. 

"There  is  your  friend,  Colonel  Bradshawe,  who 
sets  no  little  store  by  his  wine  and  cigar." 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  265 

"  He  is  intolerable  with  them,  and  would  be  a  bore 
without  them." 

"  But  my  Lord  himself  smokes.  Will  you  not  tol 
erate  him  ?" 

"  He  is  an  old  man,  a  general  officer,  and  my  father," 
said  Lady  Mabel.  "  After  a  life  of  hard  service  in  the 
worst  climates  in  the  world,  he  may  need  indulgences 
not  necessary  to  younger  men.  Besides,  he  is  obliged 
to  see  so  much  of  his  officers.  If  he  could  choose  his 
companions,  he  would  lead  a  very  different  life. 
When  we  happen  to  be  alone  here,"  continued  Lady 
Mabel,  "  he  never  sits  long  after  dinner,*  seldom 
touches  a  cigar,  and  it  is  evidently  only  his  position, 
and  the  habits  forced  upon  him  in  a  long  military 
career,  which  interfere  with  his  quiet  tastes  and  love 
of  domestic  life." 

L'Isle  looked  at  Lady  Mabel  to  see  if  she  was  in 
earnest.  She  had  only  said  what"  she  willingly  be 
lieved  on  rather  slight  foundations.  In  truth,  the 
novelty  of  having  his  daughter  with  him  on  the  few 
occasions  on  which  they  were  here  left  alone  together, 
had  proved  of  quite  sufficient  interest  to  enable  Lord 
Strathern  to  dispense  with  other  society  and  excite 
ments,  and  led  him  to  look  back  and  to  speak  much 
of  his  short  married  life,  and  far  beyond  that,  the  days 
of  his  boyhood.  L'Isle  found  himself  convicted  of 
contributing,  with  others,  to  mar  the  comfort  and  spoil 
the  habits  of  the  most  abstemious  and  domestic  old 
gentleman  in  the  king's  service.  This  was  plainly  a 
point  on  which  it  was  not  safe  to  contradict  Lady 


266  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

Mabel,  if  lie  would  keep  in  her  good  graces — so  he 
gladly  waved  the  discussion. 

Mrs.  Shortridge,  under  the  reviving  influence  of 
her  love  of  sight-seeing,  now  asked  L'Isle  to  suggest 
some  excursion  for  them,  on  which  they  might  see 
something  new.  But  she  begged  that  it  might  be 
within  a  reasonable  distance,  for  she  had  been  so  tho 
roughly  shaken  on  the  rough  paths  to  and  from 
Evora,  that,  she  was  not  yet  up  to  another  long  ride. 

"  Cranfield  has  just  been  talking  of  Fort  la  Lippe,' 
said  L'Isle,  "  which  overlooks  us  from  the  North. 
Let  us  jnake  up  a  party  to  visit  it  to-morrow.  Cran 
field  can  entertain  and  instruct  us  by  discoursing  on 
this  masterpiece  of  the  Count  de  Lippe,  and  unveil 
the  mysteries  of  the  engineer's  art.  In  the  intervals, 
we  can,  from  that  high  point,  survey  the  country 
around  us." 

Cranfield  eagerly  seconded  the  proposal.  Anything 
that  looked  like  diversion  was  welcome  to  the  ladies 
and  the  idlers  about  them,  and  Lady  Mabel,  somewhat 
mollified,  condescended  to  approve  of  it. 

Accordingly,  the  next  morning  she  met,  by  appoint 
ment,  Mrs.  Shortridge  and  the  three  Portuguese  ladies 
at  the  foot  of  the  long  flight  of  steps  that  lead  up  to 
the  cathedral  of  Elvas.  They  were  accompanied  by 
L'Isle,  Cranfield,  and  half  a  dozen  gentlemen  more, 

including  the  young  surgeon  of  the regiment,  who 

was  always  imagining  that  Lady  Mabel  had  a  cold, 
headache,  or  some  other  little  ailment,  that  he  might 
have  the  pleasure  of  prescribing  for  it.  Irreverently 


THE    ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  267 

turning  their  backs  on  the  old  church,  without  one 
prayer  to  the  saints  withhi,  or  those  depicted  on  its 
windows  of  stained  glass,  they  walked  out  of  town 
down  into  the  narrow  valley  lying  north  of  the  city, 
and  crossing  the  brook  which  runs  at  the  bottom  (the 
Portuguese,  making  a  river  of  it,  have  christened  it 
the  Seto),  on  the  few  stepping-stones  which  well  sup 
ply  the  place  af  a  foot-bridge,  they  toiled  up  the  op 
posite  hill,  the  lower  part  of  which  is  covered  with  a 
grove  of  prickly  oaks. 

On  reaching  the  gate  Captain  Cranfield  stepped 
forward  to  the  head  of  the  party,  and  entered  zeal 
ously  on  his  duties  as  cicerone.  lie  led  them  through 
the  spacious  barracks,  in  which  the  scanty  garrison 
seemed  buried  in  monastic  seclusion ;  through  the 
huge  store-houses  and  bomb-proof  kitchens  and  bake 
ries  ;  showed  them  the  vast  tank  containing  water  for 
a  full  garrison  for  a  year ;  and  what  was  better,  a 
natural  spring,  welling  out  mysteriously  within  the 
circuit  of  the  works.  From  the  ramparts  of  this  huge 
coronet  that  crowned  the  head  of  this  eminence,  he 
pointed  out  the  strength  of  the  position,  the  efficiency 
of  the  works,  and  their  importance  to  the  safety  of 
Elvas.  From  this  stronghold,  with  the  works  of  the 
city  and  Fort  St.  Lucia  on  the  other  side  of  it,  lying 
before  them,  Cranfield  discoursed  at  length  on  his 
art,  dealing  largely  in  its  technical  terms :  bastions, 
and  curtains,  covered  ways,  scarps  and  counter  scarps, 
with  ravelins  thrown  out  in  front  of  them,  until  Mrs. 
Shortridge,  who  listened  with  open-mouthed  admira- 


268  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

tion,  got  so  confused  that  she  imagined  that  a  ravelin 
was  some  kind  of  missile  to'  be  hurled  at  the  French. 
Dona  Carlotta  and  the  other  Portuguese  ladies  were 
not  so  attentive,  not  understanding  the  language  of 
the  lecturer,  and  feeling  less  interest  in  the  defence  of 

'  O 

their  country  than  in  the  attentions  of  the  foreign  of 
ficers,  who  were  devoting  themselves  to  their  special 
service.  But  Lady  Mabel,  who  prided  herself  on 
being  a  soldier's  daughter,  lent  a  willing  ear  to  Cran- 
field,  asked  many  questions,  and  even  contrived  to 
understand  much  that  he  had  to  say. 

L'Isle  now  thought  that  the  engineer  had  held  the 
first  place  in  Lady  Mabel's  attention  long  enough  ;  so 
he  broke  in  upon  his  eulogy  on  this  inland  Gibraltar, 
the  master-piece  of  "  o  gran  Conde  de  Lippe" 

"The  whole  thing  is  certainly  grand  and  complete 
in  itself,"  said  he,  looking  around ;  u  and  is  a  monu 
ment  to  the  engineering  talents  of  the  Count  deLippe. 
But,  after  all,  constructing  a  great  fortress  in  Portu 
gal  is  like  building  a  ducal  palace  on  a  dairy  farm ; 
the  thing  may  be  very  fine  in  itself,  but  is  altogether 
out  of  place.  Half  a  dozen  such  strongholds  as  Elvas, 
with  its  forts,  would  swallow  up  the  Portuguese  army, 
yet  be  but  half  garrisoned,  and  leave  not  a  man  to 
take  the  field.  See  the  extent  of  the  works  between 
this  and  St.  Lucia,  that  other  sentinel  standing  guard 
over  Elvas  on  the  south.  It  would  need  twelve 
thousand  men  to  garrison  the  city  and  the  forts.  I 
never  heard  that  this  fortress  was  of  use  to  any  but 
the  French,  who  got  it  without  fighting ;  and  the  pos- 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  269 

session  of  it  helped  them  to  obtain  the  convention  of 
Cintra;  but  for  which  we  would  have  tumbled  Junot 
and  his  fellows  into  the  Tagns.  The  Count  de  Lippe 
was  wonderfully  successful  in  regenerating  the  army, 
and  restoring  the  military  character  of  Portugal  in 
the  last  century  ;  but  his  countryman,  Schomberg,  in 
the  century  before,  showed  how  Portugal  could  be 
better  defended,  and  we  have  now  in  the  country  one 
wrho  understands  it  better  than  the  Duke  de  Schom 
berg  himself." 

There  was  so  much  truth  in  what  L'Isle  said,  that 
Crantield  was  obliged  to  yield  up  his  impregnable 
fortress  as  a  very  fine  thing  in  itself,  but  quite  out  of 
place. 

"  I  gather  from  your  remarks,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"  that  Portugal  has  often  had  a  foreigner  at  the  head 
of  its  army." 

"  Yery  often,  indeed,"  answered  L'Isle.  "This  same 
kingdom,  which,  in  spite  of  its  narrow  territory  and 
small  population,  had,  through  the  enterprise  of  its 
rulers  and  the  energy  of  the  people,  extended  its  con 
quests  in  the  East  and  the  West ;  which,  in  the  six 
teenth  century  had  thirty-two  foreign  kingdoms  and 
four  hundred  and  thirty  garrisoned  towns  tributary  to 
it — has  now  so  much  degenerated  in  its  institutions, 
that  for  two  centuries  it  has  never  been  able  to  defend 
itself,  or  even  make  a  decent  showing  in  the  field,  but 
by  foreign  aid  and  under  a  foreign  leader.  The  Duke 
of  Schomberg,  Archduke  Charles,  the  Count  de  Lippe 
the  Prince  of  Waldeck,  and  other  Germans,  have  in 


270  THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

turn  led  the  army,  and  each  had  to  reorganize  it,  and 
revive  its  discipline.  Now,  they  rely  on  Beresford  to 
train  them  for  battle,  and  Wellington  to  lead  them  to 
victor}7.  The  Count  de  Lippe  found  the  military  char 
acter  so  sunk,  that  officers  were  often  seen  waiting  at 
the  tables  of  their  colonels ;  and  the  sense  of  indi 
vidual  honor  was  so  lost,  that  one  of  his  first  reforms 
was  to  insist  on  his  officers  fighting  when  insulted,  if 
they  would  not  be  cashiered." 

"The  former  greatness  of  Portugal,"  said  Lady 
Mabel,  "is  even  more  wonderful  than  its  present 
decay.  Yet  that  is  lamentable,  indeed,  when  the  gov 
ernment,  without  striking  a  blow,  could  run  away 
from  the  country  on  the  approach  of  the  invader." 

"  That  might  have  been  called  an  act  of  deliberate 
wisdom,"  said  L'Isle,  "had  it  not  been  stamped  with 
feebleness  and  cowardice  in  the  execution.  Resist 
ance  was  hopeless  against  France  united  with  Spain, 
its  tool,  and  soon  to  be  its  victim.  Yielding  to  the 
storm  left  the  invaders  without  apology  for  the  plun 
der  and  atrocities  the  French  have  since  perpetrated 
on  the  people.  Nor  was  it  a  sudden  thought.  As 
long  ago  as  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  a  Por 
tuguese  Secretary  of  State,  seeing  the  defenceless  con 
dition  of  his  country,  urged  that  the  King  should  re 
move  to  Brazil,  and  fix  his  court  at  Rio  Janeiro.  He 
points  out  the  dependent  state  of  his  country  in 
Europe,  and  asks  :  '  What  is  Portugal  ?'  A  corner  of 
land  divided  into  three  parts  ;  one  barren,  one  belong 
ing  to  the  church,  and  the  other  part  not  even  pro- 


THE   ACTKESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE.  271 

ducing  grain  enough  for  the  inhabitants.  Look  now 
at  Brazil,  and  see  what  is  wanting  !  The  soil  is  rich, 
the  climate  delightful,  the  territory  boundless,  and  the 
city  would  soon  become  more  flourishing  than  Lis 
bon.  Here  he  might  extend  his  commerce,  make 
discoveries  in  the  interior,  and  take  the  title  of  Em 
peror  of  the  West.'  In  truth,  the  behavior  of  the 
house  of  Braganza  in  this  migration,  contrasts  well 
with  the  infamous  conduct  of  the  Spanish  Bourbons. 

They  had  strolled  on  to  the  foot  of  a  tower  within 
the  fort,  and  Cranfield  led  the  party  to  the  top  to 
survey  the  panorama  around  them.  The  horizon  was 
pretty  equally  divided  between  Portugal  and  Spain. 
On  the  North,  close  at  hand,  rose  the  rugged  Serra 
de  Portalegre,  famous  for  its  chesnut  forests ;  to  the 
west  was  the  fertile  plain  of  Eastern  Alemtejo,  cross 
ed  by  the  enormous  pile  of  the  aqueduct,  and  backed 
by  the  heights  of  Serra  D'Ossa;  to  the  south  and 
east,  the  valley  of  the  Guadiana  lay  before  them, 
with  few  marks  of  culture  on  the  Spanish  side  ;  and 
the  eye  could  range  over  the  sheep  pastured  plains  of 
Estremadura  to  the  misty  sides  and  blue  tops  of  the 
sierras  that  shut  them  in  on  either  hand. 

In  the  East,  nine  miles  off,  by  the  straight  path  the 
vulture  makes,  rose  Badajoz,  capped  by  its  castle,  and 
over-looked  by  fort  San  Christoval  on  a  high  hill 
across  the  river.  The  fame  of  its  sieges  during  this 
war,  its  stubborn  defence  and  bloody  fall  within  the 
year,  drew  the  eyes  of  the  ladies  on  it.  L'Isle  pulled 
out  a  field  glass  to  aid  them  in  inspecting  it.  When 


272  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

the  Portuguese  ladies  got  hold  of  it,  they  were  as 
much  delighted  as  children  with  a  new  toy,  snatching 
it  out  of  each  other's  hands,  without  allowing  time 
for  its  deliberate  use,  and  protesting  against  their 
Spanish  neighbors  being  brought  so  near  to  them. 

"  If  they  are  so  delighted  at  the  powers  of  this  little 
thing,"  said  L'Isle,  "  what  would  they  think  of  the 
glass  Lord  Wellington  had  put  up  in  this  tower  dur 
ing  the  siege  of  Badajoz  ?" 

"  Were  its  powers  so  great  ?"  Mrs.  Shortridge 
asked. 

"  Wonderful,  according  to  rumor,"  answered  L'Isle, 
"  But  I  never  had  time  to  come  from  the  trenches  to 
prove  them.  It  is  said  to  have  brought  Badajoz  so 
near,  that  you  saw  how  the  French  soldiers  made  their 
soup,  and  even  smell  the  garlic  they  put  into  it. 
Once,  when  my  Lord  saw  Philipon  leaning  against 
the  parapet  of  the  castle,  sneering  at  the  besieger's 
clumsy  approaches,  he  so  far  forgot  himself,  as  to  call 
for  his  holsters,  that  he  might  pistol  the  contemptuous 
Frenchmen  on  the  spot." 

"  Did  he,  indeed  ?"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Shortridge ; 
then  laughing  at  herself  for  being  quizzed  for  the  mo 
ment,  begged  L'Isle  to  tell  this  to  the  Portuguese 
ladies,  and  see  if  they  would  not  believe  it. 

Meanwhile,  Lady  Mabel  was  gazing  thoughtfully 
over  the  winding  valley,  which  running  toward  them 
from  the  East,  turned  abruptly  to  the  South,  indicat 
ing  the  course  of  the  Guadiana,  and  on  the  wide 
plains  of  Estremadura  ~baja,  or  the  lower,  to  the  blue 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  273 

sierras  that  walled  it  round.  "  This,  then,  is  Spain," 
said  she  ;  "  the  land  I  have  read  of,  dreamed  of,  and 
for  the  last  four  years,  thought  of  more  even  than  of 
my  own." 

"And  yet,"  said  L'Isle,  "you  calling  yourself  a 
traveler,  have  been  for  months  within  sight  of  it,  and 
have  never  set  your  foot  on  Spanish  ground." 

"  I  blush  to  own  it.  But  you,  my  self-appointed 
guide,  should  blush,  too,  at  never  having  led  me 
thither.  Come,  Mrs.  Shortridge :  these  soldiers  are 
too  slow  for  us  ;  let  us  take  horse  to-morrow,  and 
make  an  inroad  into  Spain." 

"  Willingly,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge.  "  But  let  us 
take  a  strong  party  with  us.  We  do  not  know  how 
we  might  be  received,  should  the  Spaniards  mistake  us 
for  Portuguese!" 

"  If  a  visit  to  Badajoz  is  your  object,"  said  Cran- 
field,  "  I  offer  myself  as  a  guide.  As  I  have  been 
lately  engaged  in  repairing  its  shattered  walls,  I  may 
be  useful  in  showing  you  how  to  get  in.  Knowing, 
too,  some  of  the  Spanish  officers  there,  I  may  in  a  par 
ley  induce  them  to  come  to  terms." 

They  now  descended  from  the  tower,  and  on  leav 
ing  the  fort,  Lady  Mabel  led  the  party  to  head-quar 
ters,  to  take  their  luncheon  there,  while  they  planned 
their  measure  for  to-rnorrow's  expedition  to  Badajoz. 
12 


274  THE  ACTKESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

'  "Where  Lusitania  and  her  sister  meet, 
Deem  ye  what  bounds  the  rival  realms  divide  ? 
Or  ere  the  jealous  queens  of  nations  greet, 
Doth  Tayo  interpose  his  mighty  tide  ? 
Or  dark  Sierras  rise  in  craggy  pride? 
Or  fence  of  art,  like  China's  vasty  wall  ? 
No  barrier  wall,  no  river  deep  and  wide, 
No  horrid  crags,  nor  mountains  dark  and  tall, 
Rise  like  the  rocks  that  part  Hispania's  land  from  Gaul. 

But  these  between,  a  silver  streamlet  glides, 
And  scarce  a  name  distinguished  the  brook ; 
Though  rival  kingdoms  press  its  verdant  sides, 
Here  leans  the  idle  shepherd  on  his  crook, 
And  vacant  on  the  rippling  waves  doth  look, 
That  peaceful  still  'twixt  bitterest  foemen  flow, 
For  proud  each  peasant  as  the  noblest  duke ; 
Well  doth  the  Spanish  hind  the  difference  know 
'Twixt  him  and  Lusian  slave,  the  lowest  of  the  low." 

Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage. 

THE  next  morning  early  a  numerous  party  issued 
from  the  eastern  gate  of  Elvas.  The  descending  road 
led  them  between  groves  of  olives,  whose  sad  colored 
foliage  was  relieved  by  the  bright  hues  of  the  almond 
tree,  clothed  with  pink  blossoms,  the  scarlet  flowering 
pomegranate,  the  dark,  rich  green  of  the  orange-tree, 
already  spangled  over  with  small  white  blossoms,  yet 
erill  laden  with  its  golden  fruit,  and  the  prune  trees 
of  Elvas,  favorites  through  the  world,  leafless  as  yet, 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  275 

but  conspicuous  by  the  clouds  of  white  flowerets 
which  covered  them.  The  roofs  of  the  suburban 
quintas  showed  themselves  here  and  there  above  the 
orchards,  and  by  the  roadside  the  iris  alata  bloomed 
on  every  bank. 

The  air  is  balmy,  the  scene  lovely,  and  all  nature 
smiling  with  the  sweet  promises  of  Spring.  Is  this  the 
goddess  Flora  leading  down  a  joyous  train  /to  the 
fields  below?  It  is  only  Lady  Mabel  cantering  some 
what  recklessly  down  hill.  When  she  reached  the 
more  level  ground,  she  so  far  out-rode  the  ladies  of  her 
party,  who  were  mounted  on  mules,  that,  tired  of 
loitering  for  them  to  come  up,  she  proposed  to  L'Isle, 
who  had  kept  by  her  side,  to  employ  their  leisure  in 
ascending  the  bare  hill  on  their  left,  to  examine  the 
old  tower,  that  stood  solitary  and  conspicuous  on  its 
top.  From  the  clearness  of  the  atmosphere  it  seemed 
nearer  than  it  was,  and  the  broken  ground  com 
pelled  them  to  make  a  circuit  before  they  reached  it. 
Hence  they  looked  down  upon  their  friends,  crawling 
at  a  snail's  pace  along  the  road  to  Badajoz.  They 
rode  round  the  weather-beaten,  ruinous  tower.  It 
was  square,  with  only  one  small  entrance,  many  feet 
above  the  ground,  and  leading  into  a  small  room 
amidst  the  thick  walls. 

"  What  could  this  have  been  built  for  ?"  Lady 
Mabel  asked. 

"It  is  one  of  those  watch-towers  called  atalaias" 
answered  L'Isle.  "  Many  of  them  are  scattered  along 
the  heights  on  the  border.  They  are  memorials  of  an 


276  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

age  in  which  one  of  people's  chief  occupations  was 
watching  against  the  approach  of  their  neighbors." 

"  Stirring  times,  those,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  k<  People 
could  not  then  complain  that  their  vigilance  was 
lulled  to  sleep  by  too  great  security  ;  but  this  is,  per 
haps,  a  more  comfortable  age." 

uTo  us  in  our  island  home,"  said  L'Isle.  "  The  im 
provement  is  more  doubtful  here.  There  was  a  time 
when  your  forefathers  and  mine  thus  kept  watch 
against  each  other ;  when  our  own  border  hills  were 
crowned  with  similar  watch-towers  ;  but  never  did 
any  country  continue  so  long  a  debatable  land,  and 
need,  for  so  many  centuries,  the  watch-tower  and  the 
signal  fire  on  its  hills,  as  this  peninsula  during  the 
slow  process  of  its  redemption  from  the  crescent  to  the 


cross." 


"  From  this  point,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  Elvas  and 
Badajoz  look  like  two  giant  champions  facing  each 
other,  in  arms,  each,  for  the  defence  of  his  own  bor 
der,  yet  one  does  not  see  here  any  of  those  great  na 
tural  barriers  that  should  divide  nations." 

"They  are  wanting,  not  only  here,"  said  L'Isle, 
"  but  on  other  parts  of  the  frontier.  The  great  rivers, 
the  Duoro,  the  Tagus  and  the  Guadiana,  and  the 
mountain  chains  separating  their  valleys,  instead  of 
dividing  the  two  kingdoms,  run  into  Portugal  from 
Spain.  The  division  of  these  countries  is  not  natural, 
but  accidental  ;  and  in  spite  of  some  points  of  con 
trast,  the  Portuguese  are  almost  as  much  like  the 
Spaniards,  as  these  last  are  like  each  other — for  Spain 


THE   ACT11ESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  277 

is  in  truth  a  variety  of  countries,  the  Spaniards  a 
variety  of  nations." 

"  At  length,  however,"  said  she,  "Spain  and  Portu 
gal  are  united  in  one  cause." 

"Yet  the  Portuguese  still  hates  the  Spaniards," 
said  L'Isle,  "  and  the  Spaniard  contemns  the  Portu 
guese." 

"  And  we  despise  both,"  said  Lady  Mabel." 

"Perhaps  unjustly,"  said  he. 

"  Why,  to  look  no  further  into  their  short-comings 
and  back-slidings,"  to  use  Moodie's  terms,  have  they 
not  signally  failed  in  the"  first  duty  of  a  nation,  de 
fending  itself?" 

"  Remember  the  combination  of  fatalities  that  beset 
them,"  said  L'Isle,  "  and  the  atrocious  perfidy  that 
aggravated  their  misfortunes.  Both  countries  were 
left  suddenly  without  rulers,  distracted  by  a  score  of 
contending  juntas,  to  resist  a  great  nation,  under  a 
government  of  matchless  energy,  the  most  perfectly 
organized  for  the  attainment  of  its  object,  which  is 
not  the  good  of  its  subjects,  but  solely  the  develope- 
ment,  to  the  uttermost,  of  its  military  power.  They 
at  once  sunk  before  it,  showing  us  how  completely 
the  vices  of  governments,  and  yet  more,  the  sudden 
absence  of  all  government,  can  paralyze  a  nation. 
But  they  have  since  somewhat  redeemed  their  reputa 
tion,  by  many  an  example  of  heroism." 

"  "Why  did  not  the  nation,  as  one  man,  imitate  the 
heroes  of  Zaragoza  and  Gerona,  and  wage,  like  them, 
war  to  the  knife's  point  against  the  infidel  and  mur- 


278  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

derous  horde  of  invaders  ?"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel, 
with  a  flushed  cheek  and  flashing  eye,  that  would  have 
become  Augustina  Zaragoza  herself. 

"  Because  every  man  is  not  a  hero,  nor  in  a  posi 
tion  to  play  a  hero's  part.  Spain  was  betrayed  and 
surprised.  The  invaders  came  in  the  guise  of  friends, 
under  the  faith  of  treaties,  by  which  the  flower  of  the 
Spanish  army  had  been  marched  into  remote  parts  of 
Europe  as  allies  to  the  French ;  nor  was  the  mask 
thrown  off  until  long  after  it  was  useless  to  wear  it." 

"  Did  the  world  ever  before  witness  such  complica 
ted  perfidy  ?" 

"  Perhaps  not.  But  I  trust  it  is  about  to  witness  its 
failure  and  punishment." 

"  We  and  the  Czar  will  have  to  administer  it,"  said 
Lady  Mabel,  with  the  air  of  an  arbitress  of  nations. 
"  We  cannot  look  for  much  help  from  our  besotted 
allies  here." 

"It  must  be  confessed,"  said  L'Isle,  "that  an  un 
happy  fatality  in  council  and  in  action,  has  beset  the 
Portuguese  and  Spaniards,  throughout  the  war.  They 
have  too  often  shown  their  patriotism  by  murdering 
their  generals,  underrating  their  enemies  and  slighting 
their  friends.  They  have,  too,  attained  the  very  acme 
of  blundering ;  doing  the  wrong  thing  at  the  \vrong 
time,  and  choosing  the  wrong  man  to  do  it." 

"  Say  no  more,"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel.  "  If  that 
be  the  verdict  you  find  against  our  allies,  I  will  not 
accuse  you  of  blindness  to  their  faults.  They  arc  un 
worthy  of  the  lovely  and  romantic  land  they  live  in," 


THE   ACTRESS  IN"  HIGH   LIFE.  279 

she  added,  gazing  on  the  scene  before  her.  "  What 
beautiful  mountain  is  that  which  trenches  so  close 
upon  the  border,  as  if  it  would  join  itself  to  the  Serra 
de  Portal egre?" 

"  It  is  the  mountain  of  Albuquerque,  so  called  from 
a  town  at  its  foot." 

"That  was  the  title  of  the  Spanish  duke,  who  died 
lately  in  London,"  Lady  Mabel  remarked. 

"  And  in  one  sense  the  most  unfortunate  Spaniard 
of  our  day,"  added  L'Isle.  "  Of  the  highest  rank 
among  subjects,  uniting  in  his  person  names  famous 
in  Spanish  history  ;  he  was  brave  and  patriotic,  and 
though  still  young,  one  of  the  few  Spanish  leaders 
whose  enterprize  did  not  lead  to  disaster.  But  the 
Supreme  Junta,  in  its  jealousy  would  never  entrust 
him  with  any  but  subordinate  commands,  subjecting 
him  to  the  orders  of  Castanos  Cuesta,  and  other  ineffi 
cient  leaders  whose  blunders  his  good  conduct  often 
covered.  When,  at  length  Andalusia  was  lost  by  the 
folly  and  cowardice  of  others,  he  only  had  his  wits 
about  him,  and  by  a  speedy  march  saved  Cadiz.  The 
rabid  democrats  of  the  city  repaid  him  with  ingrati 
tude  and  insults,  which  drove  him  into  exile ;  and, 
denied  the  privilege  of  falling  in  defence  of  his  coun 
try,  he  died  broken-hearted  in  a  foreign  land." 

"  Are  these  people  worth  fighting  for?"  exclaimed 
Lady  Mabel,  indignantly,  reining  back  her  horse,  as 
if  about  to  abandon  her  Spanish  allies  to  their  own 
folly. 

"  Perhaps  not,"  said  L'Isle,  "  if  we  were  not  also 


280  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

fighting  for  ourselves.  Spain  is  a  convenient  field  on 
which  to  drub  the  French.  But  it  is  time  to  follow 
our  party." 

They  now  left  the  hill  and  getting  back  into  the 
road,  galloped  after  their  friends,  but  did  not  over 
take  them  until  they  had  reached  the  little  river  Cayo, 
which  here  divides  Portugal  from  Spain.  The  ladies, 
on  their  mules,  were  grouped  together  in  doubt  and 
hesitation  on  this  bank,  while  several  of  the  gentle 
men  were  riding  about  in  the  water,  searching  for 
holes  in  the  bed  of  the  stream,  which  wTas  swollen  and 
turbid  from  the  late  rains. 

"  You  hesitate  too  long  to  pass  the  Rubicon,"  said 
Lady  Mabel,  "  just  let  me  tuck  up  the  skirt  of  my 
riding  dress,  from  the  muddy  waters,  and  I  will  lead 
you  over  into  Spain." 

She  was  soon  on  the  other  bank,  and  her  compan 
ions  followed  her.  The  road  now  led  them  across  a 
sandy  plain,  which,  treeless  and  desolate,  contrasted 
strikingly  with  the  fertility  and  cultivation  around 
Elvas. 

Looking  at  the  fortress  they  were  approaching, 
L'Isle  remarked :  "  From  the  times  of  Saguntum, 
Numantia,  and  Astapa,  Spain  has  been  noted  for 
cities  that  perished  utterly  rather  than  yield  in  sub 
mission  to  their  foes — Zaragoza,  Gerona,  and  other 
places  have  in  our  day  maintained  the  old  national 
fame.  But  Badajoz,"  he  added,  shaking  his  finger  at 
the  towers  before  him,  u  is  not  one  of  them.  It  can 
not  be  denied  that  in  this  struggle  the  Spaniards  have 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  281 

proved  themselves  a  nation.  'Every  Spaniard  re 
members  that  his  country  was  once  great,  and  is  fam 
iliar  with  the  names  of  its  heroes  ;  speaks  with  enthu 
siasm  of  the  Cid,  of  Ferdinand  Cortes,  and  a  host  of 
others.'  "When  the  hoiy  of  trial  come,  'the  nation 
instinctively  felt,  to  use  the  language  of  one  of  their 
own  juntas,  that  '  there  is  a  kind  of  peace  more  fatal 
than  the  field  of  hattle  drenched  with  blood,  and 
strewed  with  the  bodies  of  the  slain.'  The  patriotic 
fire  may  have  flamed  the  higher  for  the  holy  oil  of 
superstition  poured  upon  it,  but  it  was  kindled  by 
noble  pride  and  generous  shame  and  indignation,  by 
the  remembrance  of  what  their  fathers  had  been,  and 
the  thought  of  what  their  children  were  to  be.' " 

"  In  spite  of  the  blunders,  disasters,  and  treachery 
that  have  been  rife  in  the  land,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"  more  than  one  name  has  been  added  to  the  list  of  its 
heroes — Palafox  and  the  Maid  of  Zaragoza  have  won 
immortal  fame." 

"  And  others  less  famous  have  deserved  as  well," 
said  L'Isle.  "  Before  Augustina,  this  second  Joan  of 
Arc,  had  stepped  out  of  her  sex,  to  display  her  hero 
ism,  she  and  others,  behind  the  same  shattered,  crum 
bling  wall,  had  been  showing  an  equal  heroism  within 
their  sex's  sphere.  Women  of  all  ranks  were  zealous 
in  the  patriotic  cause.  They  formed  themselves  into 
companies,  some  to  assist  the  wounded,  some  to  carry 
water,  wine  and  food  to  those  who  defended  the 
gates.  The  Countess  Burita  raised  a  corps  for  this 
service.  She  was  young,  delicate  and  beautiful.  In 
12* 


282  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

the  midst  of  the  most  tremendous  fire  of  shot  and 
shells,  she  was  seen  coolly  attending  to  those  occupa 
tions,  which  were  now  become  her  duty  ;  nor  through 
the  whole  of  a  two  month's  siege  did  the  imminent 
danger,  to  which  she  incessantly  exposed  herself,  pro 
duce  the  slightest  apparent  effect  upon  her ;  her  step 
never  faltered,  her  eye  never  quailed.  What  a  par 
tial  thing  is  fame,"  he  continued,  "  and  how  poor  a 
motive  to  duty !  The  names  of  Palafox  and  Zara- 
goza  are  forever  wedded.  How  few  remember  the 
old  plebeian,  Tio  Jorge,  who  counseled  and  spurred 
on  both  governor  and  populace  to  their  heroic  de 
fence.!" 

"  When  we  remember  all  that  the  Spaniards  have 
undergone  in  this  war,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "we  cannot 
but  think  that  their  atrocities  in  the  new  world  have 
been  visited  on  them  at  home." 

"  How  far  we  must  answer  for  the  sins  of  our  fore 
fathers,"  said  L'Isle,  "is  a  nice  question.  We  have 
some  scriptural  authority  for  asserting  that  responsi 
bility  ;  and  as  there  is  no  hereafter  for  nations,  they 
must  be  punished  in  this  world,  or  not  at  all.  I  would 
be  sorry  to  bear  my  share  of  the  penalty  of  all  that 
immaculate  England  has  done.  But  I  do  not  fear  the 
fate  of  Spain  for  England  : 

'  That  royal  throne  of  kings,  that  sceptred  isle, 
That  earth  of  majesty,  that  seat  of  Mars, 
That  other  Eden,  demi-paradise; 
That  fortress,  built  by  nature  for  herself, 
Against  infection,  and  the  hand  of  war; 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  283 

V 

That  happy  breed  of  men,  that  little  world ; 
That  precious  stone  set  in  the  silver  sea, 
Which  serves  it  in  the  office  of  a  wall, 
Or  as  a  moat  defensive  to  a  hou^e, 
Against  the  envy  of  less  happier  lands. ' 

England  against  the  world  !"  he  exclaimed  breaking 
off  his  quotation,  in  his  enthusiasm,  and  laying  his 
hand  on  his  sword. 

"You  are  certainly  a  patriot,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"if  any  amount  of  national  prejudice  can  make  patri 
otism.  But  yours  is  very  like  the  cockney's,  who  de 
spised  all  the  world,  beyond  the  sound  of  Bow  bells. 
As  to  the  fortress  isle.  (Let  me  warn  you  to  Jceep  it 
well  garrisoned  against  surprise.)  I  believe  there  is 
an  obscure  little  corner  of  it  called  Scotland,  which 
both  you  and  the  poet  have  forgotten." 

"  I  merely  used  England  in  a  figure  of  speech,"  said 
L'Tsle,  "  putting  a  part  for  the  whole." 

"  I  will  not  tolerate  your  figure  of  speech,  as  dis 
paraging  to  old  Scotland,"  she  said.  "  But  for  us 
Scots—" 

"  Us  Scots  !"  L'Isle  exclaimed.  "  Why,  it  was  but 
yesterday  you  told  me  how  much  you  had  angered 
Moodie  by  calling  yourself  an  English  woman." 

"  What  of  that  ?  I  would  have  you  know  that  I 
have  two  sides  to  my  natural  character.  1  claim  the 
right  to  present  my  Scotch  or  English  side  at  will,  and 
then  you  cannot  see  the  other." 

Fort  San  Christoval,  on  this  side  of  the  Guadiana, 
rose  higher  and  higher  before  them.  Gazing  on 


284  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

Badajoz  and  its  castle  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
L'Isle  thought  of  the  failures  before  it,  and  of  the 
price  in  blood  at  whjch  it  had  been  bought  at  last. 
"  We  are  not  always  successful  in  our  sieges — at 
times  undertaking  them  rashly,  without  the  means  of 
carrying  them  on.  The  sabre,  and  bayonet,  unaided, 
take  few  walled  towns.  They  need  the  help  of  Cran- 
field's  art,  and  he  cannot  work  without  his  tools." 

"  But  we  always  beat  the  French  in  the  field,"  said 
Lady  Mabel. 

"  Always,"  said  L'Isle.  "  There  has  been  no  in 
stance  of  a  real  British  army  being  beaten  'by  a 
French  one." 

"  None  of  late  years,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  To  find 
a  victory  over  us  they  have  to  go  as  far  back  in  the 
last  century  as  Fontenoy." 

"That  is  not  a  fair  instance,"  said  L'Isle  eagerly. 
"  We  lost  that  battle  chiefly  through  the  backward 
ness  of  our  Dutch  allies  ;  and  Marshal  Saxe,  who  was 
no  Frenchman,  but  a  German,  beat  us  chiefly  by  aid 
of  the  valor  of  the  Irish  regiments  in  the  French  pay." 

"That  alters  the  case,"  said  Lady  Mabel;  "but 
were  we  not  beaten  some  years  before  that,  at  Al- 
rnansa,  here  in  Spain  ?" 

"That  instance  is  still  more  unfair,"  exclaimed 
L'Isle.  "  Our  Peninsular  allies  ran  away,  while  we 
fought  their  battle.  Still,  though  the  enemy  were 
two  to  our  one,  the  result  might  have  been  differ 
ent.  But  the  French  had  an  English  general,  the 
Duke  of  Berwick,  to  win  the  battle  for  them,  and 


THE  ACTKESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  285 

we  had  a  French  commander,  Deltuvigny,  whom 
Dutch  William  had  made  Earl  of  Galway,  to  lose  it 
for  us." 

"  Then,  after  all,"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel,  "the  Eng 
lishman  won  the  field." 

"  Yes,"  to  our  cost,"  said  L'Isle,  bitterly.  "  What 
made  it  more  provoking  was,  that  we  had  at  that 
very  time  the  man  to  mate  him  ;"  and,  standing  up 
on  his  stirrups,  he  raised  his  clenched  hand  above  his 
head,  exclaiming  :  "  O,  for  one  hour  of  Peterborough 
to  grapple  with  his  countryman  and  redeem  the  day !" 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  Colonel  L'Isle  ?"  asked 
Mrs.  Shortridge,  who  was  riding  close  behind  with 
Cranfield. 

u  He  is  only  leaping  back  to  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century,"  answered  Lady  Mabel,  "  to  reverse  the 
issue  of  the  battle  of  Almansa." 

"  Why,  has  not  the  colonel  fighting  enough  before 
him,"  said  Cranfield,  laughing,  "  that  he  must  go  back 
so  far  for  more  ?" 

"  Let  us  be  content  with  what  we  have,"  said  L'Isle 
joining  in  the  laugh.  "  It  is  useless  to  dwell  on  old 
disasters  but  by  way  of  shunning  new  ones.  It  has 
been  our  constant  luck  to  go  into  battle  shoulder  to 
shoulder  with  allies  who,  except  when  in  our  pay, 
seldom  stand  by  us  to  the  end  of  the  day." 

The  river  was  now  at  hand.  Turning  to  the  right 
before  reaching  San  Christoval,  they  entered  the  tete 
dupont,  and  soon  found  themselves  on  a  noble  granite 
bridge  .of  many  arches.  The  voices  of  many  singers 


286  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

drew  their  eyes  to  the  banks  of  the  river,  where  they 
saw  all  the  washerwomen  of  the  city,  collected  in  pur 
suit  of  their  calling,  and  lightening  their  labors  with 
song,  the  burden  of  which,  "  Guadiana,  Guadiana," 
fell  often  on  the  ear,  while  the  sun-beams  bleached 
the  linen  spread  out  on  the  banks  of  the  stream,  and 
tanned  the  faces  of  the  industrious  choir  chanting  its 
praise. 

"This,  then,  is  the  Guadiana!"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
peeping  over  the  parapet.  "  I  feel  bound  to  admire 
its  broad  face,  but  miss  the  swift  current  and  pellucid 
waters  of  the  poetasters,  to  whose  bounties  the  river 
god  owes  much  of  his  fame." 

"  While  you  and  our  party  loiter  here,  searching 
out  the  beauties  of  the  Guadiana,"  said  L'Isle,  "  I  will 
ride  on  and  secure  our  peaceful  reception  at  the  gate. 
A  Spanish  sentinel  is  often  asleep,  and  apt  to  prove 
his  vigilance  by  firing  on  whoever  wakes  him  up." 

Presently  following  L'Isle,  who  luckily  found  the 
sentinel  awake,  they  reached  the  southern  end  of  the 
bridge,  and  passing  between  two  beautiful  round 
towers  of  white  marble,  now  tinted  straw-color  with 
age,  they  entered  the  northern  gate  of  the  city,  and 
soon  sought  hospitality  at  the  Posada  de  los  Cabal- 
leros. 

Putting  up  their  horses  here,  they  left  the  servants 
to  see  that  a  dinner  was  got  ready ;  this  meal,  at  a 
Spanish  inn,  depending  less  on  what  you  find  there 
than  on  what  you  bring  with  yon.  Three  Spanish  of 
ficers  were  lounging  at  the  posada,  one  of  whom  im- 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  287 

mediately  claimed  Cranfield's  acquaintance,  and  intro 
duced  his  companions.  Cranfield  did  not  seem  de 
lighted  to  meet  with  him,  nevertheless  he  presented 
them  to  the  whole  party  with  studied  politeness. 
Captain  Don  Alonzo  Melendez,  with  a  handsome  per 
son,  a  swaggering  air,  and  a  costume  more  foppish 
than  military,  looked  more  like  a  mqjo  of  Seville 
than  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman.  His  companions  had 
much  the  advantage  of  him  there,  but  he  beat  them 
hollow  in  assurance.  Learning  tlyit  curiosity  alone 
had  brought  them  to  Badajoz,  he  at  once  took  the 
post  of  guide.  Finding  that  Lady  Mabel  knew  enough 
of  Spanish  to  make  a  good  listener,  he  placed  himself 
by  her  side.  Craniield  escorted  her  on  the  other,  and 
thus  they  walked  forth.  L'Isle,  thrust  into  the  back 
ground,  accompanied  Mrs.  Shortridge  and  the  rest  of 
the  party. 

As  they  drew  near  the  works,  many  marks  of  in 
jury  and  devastation  on  the  adjacent  houses,  brought 
the  late  siege  prominently  to  their  minds.  Don 
Alonzo  Melendez  at  once  began  to  discourse  gran 
diloquently  on  the  subject.  His  narrative  was  so 
copious  and  inaccurate,  that  Craniield  soon  lost  all  pa 
tience,  and  found  it  hard  to  keep  from  interrupting 
and  contradicting  him.  Lady  Mabel,  detecting  this, 
encouraged  the  Spaniard  to  the  uttermost  by  display 
ing  rapt  attention,  and  full  faith  in  his  glowing  nar 
rative. 

"  I  never  before  heard,"  said  she  to  Cranfield,  so  gra 
phic  an  account  of  the  siege  and  storming  of  Badajoz." 


288  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

"  If  our  friend  here  talks  about  it  much  longer," 
said  Cranfield,  in  English,  "  he  will  forget  that  we  had 
any  thing  to  do  with  it.  The  siege  was,  however,  in 
one  sense,  the  work  of  the  Spaniards.  If  the  traitor 
Imaz  had  not  sold  it  to  Soult  for  a  mule  load  of  gold, 
we  would  not  have  had  to  buy  it  back  at  the  cost  of 
so  many  thousands  of  lives.  Nor  were  any  of  them 
Spanish  lives,"  he  added  bitterly ;  "  though  some 
were  Portuguese — for  the  only  Spaniards  at  the  siege 
were  the  renegados  who  aided  Philippon  and  his 
Frenchman  to  keep  us  out." 

"  Every  Spaniard  is  not  traitor  or  coward,"  said 
L'Isle  from  behind.  If  the  brave  Governor  Menacho 
had  not  been  killed  in  defending  the  place,  his  suc 
cessor  Imaz  could  not  have  sold  it  a  few  days  after  to 
the  French." 

As  they  strolled  along  the  ramparts,  Don  Alonso, 
with  a  strange  forget fnl ness  of  events  within  the  year, 
landed  the  impregnable  strength  of  the  works,  as  if 
Badajoz  were  still  a  virgin  fortress.  Cranfield,  by 
way  of  rebuking  him,  pointed  out  to  Lady  Mabel  the 
restorations  he  had  made  of  the  breached  walls.  She 
replied  that  "  the  patchwork  character  of  his  repairs 
were  but  too  evident,  as  he  had  invariably  omitted  to 
use  materials  of  the  same  color  with  the  original 
works." 

As  they  rambled  through  the  city,  Don  Alonso 
failed  not  to  point  out  the  superior  size  and  style  of 
the  buildings  over  those  of  Elvas,  and  Lady  Mabel 
remarked  that  "  in  cleanliness,  too,  it  far  surpassed  its 


4  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  289 

neighbor. '  Leading  them  to  the  cathedral,  their 
guide  compelled  them  to  inspect  minutely  this  heavy 
and  cumberous  building,  while  he  eulogized  it  in 
terms  that  might  have  been  suitable  to  St.  Peter's, 
at  Rome.  "  I  am  sorry,"  said  he,  "  you  cannot  see  it 
in  all  its  splendor;  but  the  gorgeous  furniture  of  the 
altar  and  the  rich  ornaments  of  the  shrines  are  not 
now  exhibited." 

"  Why  not?"  asked  Lady  Mabel. 
"  In  these  troubled,  sacrilegious  times,  the  clergy 
think  it  best  not  to  display  the  wealth  of  the  church." 
"  They  would  find  it  difficult  to  display  any  thing 
but  tinsel,"  said  Cranfield.     "  It  is  two  years  since  the 
golden  crucifix,  the  silver  candlestick,  arid  the  saintly 
jewelry,    mounted   on   horseback   and   traveled   into 
France." 

"But  the  saints,"  said  L'Isle,  "knowing  that  the 
air  of  France  would  not  agree  with  them,  wisely  staid 
behind." 

As  they  were  coming  out  of  the  cathedral,  Mrs. 
Shortridge  asked  L'Isle  the  meaning  of  the  words  on 
a  tablet  near  them :  "  Oy  se  sacca  animas." 

"  They  give  us  notice,"  said  L'Isle,  "  that  to-day 
souls  are  released  from  Purgatory.  But  surely  the 
notice  is  incomplete,  not  specifying  whose  souls  they 
are.  Their  friends  may  go  on  spending  money  in 
masses  for  them  after  they  are  in  Paradise." 

"  That  would  be  throwing  away  their  cash,"  said 
Mrs.  Shortridge.  "  I  have  known  good  folks  in  Lon 
don  exercise  their  charity  by  releasing  small  debtors 


290  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  * 

from  prison.  But  their  bounty  bears  little  fruit, 
compared  with  that  of  the  Papist,  who,  by  opening 
his  purse,  rescues  sinful  souls  from  purgatory.  But 
our  works,  as  our  faith,  fall  far  short  of  theirs." 

u  And  the  Spaniards  are  foremost  among  the  faith 
ful,"  said  L'Isle.  "  They  are  greedy  of  belief,  even 
beyond  what  the  church  commands.  Thus  the  mys 
terious  origin  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  which  once  con 
vulsed  the  Spanish  church,  is  here  no  longer  a  dis 
puted  point.  It  is  the  first  article  of  their  creed,  as 
proved  by  their  commonest  term  of  salutation.  On 
entering  a  Spaniard's  house,  you  must  begin  with  the 
words,  '  Ave  Maria  Purissima]  to  which  will  be 
answered,  ^  Sin  pecado  concebida?  Smithfield  fires 
could  not  burn  this  dogma  out  of  them,  and  they 
would  become  schismatics  if  the  rest  of  Popedom 
were  not  treading  on  their  heels.  Yet  to  me  this  doc 
trine  seems  to  sap  the  great  Christian  truth,  that 
Christ  is  '  God  made  man,'  for  it  pushes  his  human 
origin  one  generation  further  back.  Did  Scripture 
tell  the  name  of  the  mother  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  the 
next  age  m^ght  discover  that  she  too  was  '  sin  pecado 
concclnda?  ': 

"  Since  I  have  been  in  this  land,"  said  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge,"  I  have  seen  scarcely  a  street,  or  even  a  house, 
which  is  without  an  image  or  picture  of  the  blessed 
Virgin,  and  the  images  are  often  crowned  with  flow 
ers." 

"  She  is  the  goddess  of  these  southern  nations," 
L'Isle  answered ;  "  and  styled  the  Mother  of  God. 


THE  ACTEESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  291 

Moreover,  'every  pious  Spaniard  regards  the  Virgin 
in  the  light  of  his  friend,  his  confidante,  his  mistress, 
whose  whole  attention  is  directed  to  hirflself,  and 
who  is  perpetually  watching  over  his  happiness.  With 
the  name  of  Mary  ever  on  his  lips  he  follows  his  busi 
ness,  his  pleasures,  and  his  sins.  It  is  in  the  name, 
too,  of  Mary,"  L'Isle  continued,  with  an  arch  smile, 
"  that  the  ladies  write  billetdoux,  send  their  portraits, 
and  entertain  their  gallants." 

"  Stop,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge ;  "  you  are  libeling 
our  sex,  and  your  love  of  satire  makes  you  as  bitter 
against  Popery  as  old  Moodie  himself." 

"  It  is,  at  least,  no  scandal  to  say  that,  under  her 
patronage,  small  sins  are  easily  absolved  here,  on  the 
performance  of  certain  duties  of  atonement." 

"  What  are  the  duties  of  atonement?" 

"  Ave  Marias,  fasts,  and  alms.  The  alms  go  to 
the  begging  friars,  or  else  to  buy  masses  for  the  souls 
in  purgatory." 

Walking  up  the  sloping  street  that  leads  to  the 
castle,  they  found  this  Moorish  edifice  in  a  shattered 
condition,  a  few  towers  only  standing  whole  amidst 
the  ruins.  From  one  of  these,  looking  northwTard 
across  the  river  which  ran  three  hundred  feet  below 
them,  they  saw  the  strong  fort  of  San  Christoval  tow 
ering  above  them,  while  they,  in  turn,  overlooked  the 
city,  and  beyond  its  walls,  the  plain  to  the  south,  not 
long  since  covered  with  vineyards,  and  olive  groves, 
and  the  picturesque  villas  of  the  richer  citizens  of 
Badajoz — now  its  bare  surface  was  furrowed  with 
I 


292  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

trenches,  ridged  with  field  works,  and  spotted  with 
ruins.  The  devastating  blast  of  war  had  left  it  the 
picture  ofdesolation. 

Lady  Mabel,  turning  to  ask  L'Isle  a  question,  saw 
him  gazing  gloomily  down  into  the  deep  but  dry  fosse 
below  them. 

"  What  fixes  your  attention  on  that  spot,"  she  asked. 

"  Do  you  see  where  the  earth  shows,  by  its  color 
differing  from  the  adjacent  soil,  that  it  has  been 
turned  up  not  long  since  ?  Thousands  of  Britons, 
Portuguese,  and  French  are  buried  there.  They  met 
but  to  contend,  yet  now  lie  peaceably  together.  I 
have  more  than  one  friend  among  them." 

Mrs.  Shortridge  put  her  hand  before  her  e}res,  and 
Lady  Mabel  turned  pale  as  she  gazed  earnestly  below. 
"  Come,"  she  said,  at  length,  "  we  have  seen  enough 
of  bloody  Badajoz.  There  are  some  feelings  that  may 
well  kill  the  idle  curiosity  that  led  us  hither." 

Descending  into  the  town,  they  walked  into  the 
great  square,  their  party  attracting  much  attention 
from  several  groups  of  citizens  and  of  soldiers  of  the 
garrison.  Captain  Don  Alonso  Melendez  stopped 
them  here  to  point  out  various  objects  of  interest, 
being  evidently  anxious  to  display  himself  as  the 
patron  and  intimate  of  these  distinguished  strangers. 
He  brought  forward  and  presented  to  them  two  or 
three  more  of  his  brother  officers  whom  he  here  met. 

While  he  was  thus  engaged  with  others  of  the 
party,  Lady  Mabel  found  leisure  to  remark  to  Crari- 
field  :  "Short  as  is  the  distance  from  Elvas  to  Bada- 

I 


THE   ACTEESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE.  293 

joz,  I  fancy  I  can  perceive,  without  listening  to  the 
language  around  me,  that  I  am  among  a  new  people." 

"  You  may  well  be  struck  with  the  language,"  said 
Cranfield,  "  while  listening  to  our  patronizing  friend 
here.  But  you  must  not  take  his  discourse  for  a  fair 
sample  of  Spanish  style  or  facts." 

"  Of  course  not,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "Eloquence 
and  intelligence  like  his  are  rare  everywhere.4' 

"I  trust  they  are,"  said  Cranfield,  with  a  sneer. 
"  But  there  is  already  an  obvious  difference  observable 
here  in  the  people,  which  becomes  more  marked  as 
you  proceed  toward  Castile.  The  Spaniard  is  taller 
and  yet  leaner  than  the  Portuguese.  He  has  a  more 
expressive  countenance,  a  striking  sedateness  of  car 
riage,  and  a  settled  gravity  of  manner,  especially 
wrhen  silent,  which  makes  him  seem  wiser  than  he  is. 
With  much  elegance  of  form,  his  meagre  person  shows 
that  he  is  the  denizen  of  a  dry  climate,  which,  every 
Spaniard  will  tell  you,  gives  a  peculiar  compactness 
of  structure  to  all  its  products :  the  wheat  of  Spain 
'makes  more  bread,  its  beef  and  mutton  are  more 
nourishing,  its  wines  have  more  body,  and  the  men 
more  enduring  vigor  than  those  of  other  countries. 
Certain  it  is  that  Spanish  troops  have  often  proved 
great  marchers;  yet  of  all  nations  they  have  the 
slenderest  legs,  and  indeed  they  never  use  their  own 
when  they  can  substitute  those  of  horse,  mule,  or 
burro" 

"  The  heat  of  the  climate  discourages  exercise  on 
foot,"  said  Lady  Mabel. 


294  THE   ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

"Or  labor  of  any  kind,"  said  Cranfield.  "The 
universal  cloak  sufficiently  proves  that  they  are  not  a 
working  people." 

"  And  imperfectly  conceals  that  they  are  a  ragged 
one,"  said  she.  "Had  I  old  Moodie  at  my  elbow,  lie 
would  remind  me  that  '  drowsiness  shall  clothe  a  man 
in  rags.' ' 

Observing  Cranfield  gazing  round  the  square  with 
much  interest,  she  said  :  "  You  must  be  quite  familiar 
with  this  place." 

"  I  shall  never  forget  the  occasion  on  which  I  saw 
it  first,"  he  answered.  "  I  was  one  of  two  engineers 
attached  on  the  assault  to  General  Walker's  brigade. 
While  Picton  was  scaling  the  castle  walls,  and  crowds 
of  our  brave  fellows  were  dying  in  the  breaches,  we 
succeeded  in  forcing  our  way  into  the  place  over  the 
bastion  of  San  Yincente.  Hard  work  we  had  of  it, 
and  the  fight  did  not  end  there ;  for  the  enemy  stub 
bornly  disputed  bastion  after  bastion  on  our  flank, 
and  our  commander  fell  on  the  ramparts  covered  with 
so  many  wounds  that  his  living  seemed  a  miracle. 
The  detachment  I  was  with  pushed  forward  into  the 
town.  'The  streets  were  empty,  but  brilliantly  illu 
minated,  and  no  person  was  to  be  seen ;  yet  a  low 
buzz  and  whisper  was  heard  around ;  lattices  were 
now  and  then  opened,  and  from  time  to  time  shots  were 
fired  from  underneath  the  doors  by  the  Spaniards — " 

"  The  French,"  you  mean,"  said  Lady  Mabel. 

"  No ;  the  Spaniards,"  persisted  Cranfield.  "  And 
perhaps  our  talking  friend  there  was  one  of  them." 


THE   ACTEESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  295 

"  Don  Alonso  is  an  Andalusian  and  a  patriot,"  said 
Lady  Mabel ;  and  I  will  not  have  him  so  traduced." 

"  Be  it  so,"  replied  Cranfield.  "  It  is  lucky  for  your 
patriot  that  he  was  not  here.  However,  the  troops, 
with  bugles  sounding,  advanced  up  yonder  street  into 
this  square,  and  we  captured  several  mules  going 
with  ammunition  to  the  trenches.  But  the  square 
was  empty  and  silent  as  the  streets,  and  the  houses  as 
bright  with  lamps  ;  a  terrible  enchantment  seemed  to 
be  in  operation ;  for  we  saw  nothing  but  light,  and 
heard  nothing  but  the  low  whispers  around  us,  while 
the  tumult  at  the  breach  was  like  the  crashing  thun 
der.  There,  though  the  place  was  already  carried  on 
two  sides,  by  Picton's  column  and  ours,  the  murderous 
conflict  still  raged  ;  we  still  heard  the  shots,  and 
shouts,  and  infernal  uproar,  while  hundreds  and  hun 
dreds  fell  and  died  after  fierce  assault  and  desperate 
resistance  were  alike  vain.  We  pushed  on  that  way 
to  take  the  garrison  in  reserve,  but  our  weak  battalion 
was  repulsed  by  their  reserve,  and  some  time  elapsed 
before  the  French  found  out  that  Badajoz  had  changed 
hands." 

"  But  it  was  ours !"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel,  "  though 
too  dearly  bought. 

"The  carnage  was  dreadful,"  said  Cranfield  ;  "  and 
when  the  full  extent  of  that  night's  havoc  became 
known  to  Lord  Wellington,  the  firmness  of  liis  nature 
gave  way  for  a  moment,  and  the  pride  of  conquest 
yielded  to  a  passionate  burst  of  grief  at  the  loss  of  his 
gallant  soldiers. — Then  came  thevcevictis"  continued 


296  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

Cranfield.  "  We  do  not  like  to  dwell  on  the  wild  and 
desperate  wickedness  which  Badajoz  witnessed  on  be 
coming  ours.  By  the  by,  just  where  we  stand  stood 
the  gallows." 

"The  gallows!"  Lady  Mabel  exclaimed,  stepping 
back  from  the  polluted  spot.  "  You  could  not  hang 
the  French.  Did  you  hang  the  Spaniards  who  had 
fired  on  you." 

"  No  ;  but  Lord  Wellington  was  compelled  to  hang 
some  of  his  own  heroes  for  making  too  free  with  what 
was  theirs  by  right  of  conquest." 

The  young  surgeon,  who  had  been  listening  to 
Cranfield,  now  thought  it  time  to  lay  some  of  his 
coloring  on  this  picture  of  the  siege,  storming  and 
sack  of  this  unhappy  city.  He  told  some  curious 
and  thrilling  incidents,  but  his  profession  getting  the 
mastery  of  him,  he  soon  got  to  the  hospital,  and, 
amidst  ghastly  wounds,  horrid  disfigurations,  and  dis 
membered,  limbs,  began  to  bandage,  slash,  and  saw, 
until  Lady  Mabel  sickened  at  the  tale.  "Pray  stop 
there ;  you  make  me  shudder  at  your  hospital  scenes, 
which,  in  their  endless  variety  of  suffering  are  too 
like  the  Popish  pictures  of  souls  in  Purgatory.  I 
prefer  going  to  dine  at  the  posada,  to  stopping  here  to 
sup  full  of  horrors." 

They  now  returned  to  the  posada  and  had  their 
Spanish  friends  to  dine  with  them — Lady  Mabel  seat 
ing  Don  Alonso  beside  her,  and  losing  not  a  word  of 
his  grandiloquence.  After  the  meal  the  party  dis 
persed — most  of  them  taking  a  siesta  in  order  to  get 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  297 

rid  of  two  or  three  hot  hours  of  the  afternoon  before 
they  set  out  on  their  way  back  to  Elvas.  Their  Span 
ish  friends  however,  returned  and  persuaded  them  to 
postpone  their  ride  until  they  had  taken  an  evening 
promenade  on  the  bridge,  the  favorite  resort  of  the 
ladies  of  Badajoz  and  their  cavaliers  during  the  hot 
weather.  Here  they  enjoy  an  extended  prospect,  and 
the  cooling  breezes  that  attend  the  current  of  a  great 
river. 

They  found  here  many  of  the  first  people  of  Badajoz 
and  many  of  the  Spanish  officers  and  their  fair 
friends.  Leaning  against  the  parapet  of  the  bridge, 
Lady  Mabel  forgot  the  idlers  walking  by,  while  she 
gazed  on  the  scenery  around,  or  watched  the  gliding 
stream  below,  and  listened  to  L'Isle  speaking  of  the 
Guadiana ;  of  its  mysterious  disappearance  near  its 
source,  its  course  betrayed  only  by  the  rich  pastures 
overlying  the  subterranean  streams,  of  its  return  to 
daylight  in  the  lakes  called  its  eyes  :  Ojos  de  la  Gua 
diana;  and  following  it  to  Portugal,  to  the  Salto  de 
Lolio,  so  called  because  a  wolf  might  leap  across  the 
deep  but  narrow  chasm  between  the  overhanging 

t?        o 

rocks,  he  named  the  noted  places  on  its  banks,  and 
quoted  many  a  ballad  of  which  it  was  the  theme. 
Presently,  finding  themselves  almost  alone  they  fol 
lowed  their  companions,  to  the  bridge  head,  and  joined 
the  large  company  assembled  in  this  outwork.  The 
Spanish  officers  had  provided  music  for  their  enter 
tainment,  and  oranges  and  confectionary  were  handed 
about.  Of  the  latter,  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
13 


298  THE  ACTRESS  IX  HIGH  LIFE. 

ladies,  according  to  national  habit,  eat  a  great  quan 
tity.  After  a  pause  the  musicians  struck  up  a  lively 
seguidilla,  the  gentlemen  secured  partners,  Lady 
Mabel  declining  a  dozen  applications,  and  with  diffi 
culty  ridding  herself  of  Don  Alonso,  who  could  not 
understand  how  a  lady  who  delighted  so  much  in  his 
conversation  could  refuse  to  dance  with  him. 

The  level  space  within  this  outwork  was  now  crowd 
ed  with  couples,  the  Portuguese  ladies  entering  fully 
into  the  spirit  of  the  hour.  Mrs.  Shortridge  and  Lady 
Mabel  stood  aside,  with  L'Isle,  and  had  the  pleasure 
of  witnessing  a  genuine  impromptu  Spanish  ball  in 
the  open  air.  They  were  at  once  struck  with  the  sud 
den  gayety  and  activity  of  a  people  habitually  so  grave 
and  inert.  But  as  one  dance  followed  another,  the 
vivacity  of  the  party  increased.  Many  of  the  officers 
and  some  of  their  fair  friends  were  from  Andalusia, 
where  music  and  the  castinets  are  never  heard  in  vain. 
Presently  the  tune  was  changed,  and  the  excited 
dancers  slid  over  into  the  fandango  and  volero,  danced 
out  to  the  life  in  so  demonstrative,  voluptuous  and 
seducing  a  style,  that  Mrs.  Shortridge  declared  such 
exhibitions  abominable,  and  that  they  should  be  pro 
hibited  by  law ;  while  Lady  Mabel  shrinkingly  looked 
on  in  bewildered  astonishment.  She  had  herself 
danced  many  a  time,  though  not  as  often  as  she 
wished  ;  but  such  dancing  she  had  never  dreamed  of 
before. 

At  tilts  moment  the  sun  set,  and  the  bells  of  the 
churches  and  convents  across  the  water  gave  the 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  299 

signal  for  repeating  the  evening  prayer  to  the  Virgin. 
In  an  instant  the  gay  crowd  was  arrested  as  if  by 
magic.  The  music  ceased ;  the  dancers  stood  still ; 
the  women  veiled  their  faces  with  their  fans;  the 
men  took  off  their  hats ;  and  all  breathed  out  or  seem 
ed  to  breathe  a  prayer  to  the  protecting  power  who 
had  brought  them  to  the  close  of  another  day — all  but 
the  English  officers,  who,  mingled  with  the  devout 
dancers,  stood  looking  like  profane  fools  caught  with 
out  a  prayer  for  the  occasion.  After  a  short  solemn 
pause,  the'  men  put  on  their  hats,  the  women  uncov 
ered  their  faces,  the  music  again  struck  up,  and  the 
throng  glided  off  into  gayety  and  revelry  as  before. 

"I  would  not  have  lost  this  for  any  thing,"  Lady 
Mabel  exclaimed;  "It  is  so  sudden  and  extraordin 
ary  a  transition  from  the  wild  abandonment  of  revel 
ry  to  absorbing  devotion  and  back  again  to  the  revels. 
Without  seeing  it,  I  could  not  have  imagined  it.  I 
have  before  witnessed  and,  at  times,  been  impressed 
with  this  solemn  call  to  the  evening  prayer,  misdi 
rected  though  it  be.  But  here  the  effect  is  utterly 
ridiculous,  to  say  the  least." 

"This  may  give  you  an  insight  into  the  Spanish 
character  on  more  than  one  point,"  said  L'lsle.  "  As 
to  their  love  of  dancing,  and  of  the  fandango  in  par 
ticular,  it  is  said,  though  I  do  not  vouch  for  it,  that 
the  Church  of  Rome,  scandalized  that  a  country  so 
renowned  for  the  purity  of  its  faith,  had  not  long  ago 
proscribed  so  profane  a  dance,  resolved  to  pronounce 
the  solemn  condemnation  of  it.  A  consistory  as- 


300  THE   ACTKESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

sembled  ;  the  prosecution  of  the  fandango  was  begun 
according  to  rule,  and  a  sentence  was  about  to  be 
thundered  against  it.  But  there  was  a  wise  Spanish 
prelate  present  who  knew  his  countrymen,  and  dreaded 
a  schism,  should  they  be  driven  to  choose  between  the 
fandango  and  the  faith.  He  stepped  forward  and  ob 
jected  to  the  criminal's  being  condemned  without 
being  heard. 

The  observation  had  weight  with  the  assembly.  He 
was  allowed  to  produce  before  them  a  majo  and  a 
maja  of  Seville,  who,  to  the  sound  of  voluptuous 
music,  displayed  all  the  seductive  graces  of  the  dance. 
The  severity  of  the  judges  was  not  proof  against  the 
exhibition.  Their  austere  countenances  began  to  re 
lax  ;  they  rose  from  their  seats ;  their  legs  and  arms 
soon  found  their  former  suppleness ;  the  consistory- 
hall  was  changed  into  a  dancing-room,  and  the  fan 
dango  acquitted. 

Both  ladies  laughed  heartily  at  this  story,  and  L'Isle 
went  on  to  say;  "In  spite  of  the  exhibition  before  us, 
these  people,  in  their  serious  hour^,  retain  all  the  grav 
ity  and  ceremonious  stateliness  in  language  and  man 
ner  of  their  forefathers,  in  the  time  of  Charles  the 
Fifth  and  his  glooming  son,  when  the  Spaniard  was 
the  admiration  and  dread  of  Europe. 

"  I  have  been  told,"  said  Lady  Mabel,"  that  you 
may,  at  this  day,  find  many  a  Spaniard  who  might  sit 
for  the  portrait  of  Alva  himself." 

"  Yes,"  answered  L'Isle,  "  It    has  been  well  said 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  801 

that  the  Spaniard  of  the  sixteenth  century  has  vanish 
ed,  but  his  mask  remains." 

Twilight  was  now  failing  them,  and  the  party  from 
Elvas  hastened  back  to  the  posada.  The  horses  had 
been  brought  out,  and  some  of  the  ladies  were  already 
mounted,  when  Don  Alonso  Melendez  came  hastily 
up,  having  followed  them  to  take  a  ceremonious  leave. 
His  parting  words  with  his  new  friends,  and  especially 
his  compliments  to  Lady  Mabel,  who  did  not  allow 
herself  to  remain  in  his  debt,  delayed  them  some  time. 
As  they  rode  off,  he  waved  his  hat,  arid  .called  out : 
"  Con  todo  el  mondo  guerra,  y  paz  con  Inglaterra  !  " 

"  We  taught  them  that  proverb  long  ago,"  said 
Cranfield,"  by  taking  their  galleons  laden  with  plate 
from  the  New  World." 

"The  Spaniard  has  a  treasury  of  wisdom  locked  up 
in  his  proverbs,"  said  L'Isle.  What  a  pity  it  is  he 
will  not  take  some  of  it  out  to  meet  the  current  demands 
on  him." 

They  soon  again  crossed  the  bridge,  and  entered  the 
tcte  du  point — but  the  dancers  had  vanished  ;  their 
music  was  hushed ;  nor  was  its  place  supplied  by  the 
song  of  the  morning.  The  chorus  of  "Guadiana — 
Guadiana,"  no  longer  arose  from  its  banks.  All  wras 
still,  dark  and  desolate  before  them. 

Meanwhile,  Lord  Strathern,  though  not  given  to 
over  caution,  was  seized,  as  night  drew  on,  with  a 
sudden  nervousness,  at  Ma  Belle's  taking  a  night  ride 
across  the  borders  of  two  such  unsettled  countries,  in 
fested  with  patriotic  guerilleros,  who  sometimes  mis- 


302  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

took  friends  for  foes.  He  entertained — in  fact,  cul 
tivated — an  unfavorable  opinion  of  his  neighbors, 
the  Spanish  garrison  of  Badajoz.  He  laid  at  their 
door  every  outrage  perpetrated  in  the  country  around. 
— The  party  from  Elvas  would  afford  a  rich  booty  in 
purses,  watches,  and  jewelry;  and  he  thought  it  quite 
possible  that  after  some  of  their  allies  had  entertained 
them  in  Badajoz,  with  ostentatious  hospitality,  others 
might  waylay,  rob  and  murder  them  before,  or  soon 
after  they  crossed  the  frontier.  So,  he  hastily  ordered 
Major  Conway  to  send  out  a  patrol  of  dragoons  to 
meet  them  ;  and  the  Major  sent  off  Lieut.  Goring  in  a 
hurry  on  this  service. 

Now,  Goring  had  passed  the  day  chafing  with  in 
dignation  at  hearing  of  the  pleasant  party,  which  he 
had  not  been  asked  to  join  ;  and  his  anger  was  not 
soothed  by  being  despatched  to  meet  it,  at  a  late  hour, 
when  all  the  pleasure  was  over.  Galloping  on  in  this 
mood,  with  a  dozen  and  more  dragoons,  behind  him, 
he  came  to  the  Cayo,  and  after  taking  a  look  at  the 
dark  current,  was  about  to  cross,  when  he  heard  the 
sound  of  horses'  feet,  and  the  clattering  of  tongues 
drawing  near  on  the  other  side.  In  the  spirit  of  mis 
chief,  he  followed  the  impulse  of  the  moment.  lie 
ordered  his  men  to  form  on  the  edge  of  the  water, 
fronting  the  ford,  to  unbuckle  their  cloaks,  and  throw 
them  over  their  helmets,  and  not  to  move  or  speak  a 
word.  The  men  took  the  joke  instantly.  The  crescent 
moon,  already  distanced  by  the  sun,  was  sinking  be 
low  the  horizon;  the  bank  of  the  river  threw  its  shade 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  303 

over  them,  and  they  stood  below,  a  dark,  undisting- 
uishable  mass. 

Presently  the  party  came  straggling  up,  Dona  Car- 
lotta  and  her  cavalier  leading  them,  and  feeling  their 
way  down  to  the  water. 

"This  cannot  be  the  ford,"  said  he;  the  bank  looks 
too  steep  on  the  other  side." 

"  What  is  that  black  object  across  the  water?  "  ask 
ed  Cranfield,  from  behind.  "  Can  the  river  have  risen 
and  the  bank  caved  in  ?  " 

"It  has  too  regular  an  outline  for  that,"  saidL'Isle, 
who  had  now  come  up,  and  was  trying  to  peer  through 
the  darkness.  "  Do  you  not  hear  the  stamping  of  a 
horse  across  the  water?  " 

"  And  a  clattering  sound  ? "  said  Cranfield,  as  a 
dragoon's  sword  struck  against  a  neigboring  stirrup. 

"Lady  Mabel,"  said  L'Isle,  eagerly,  (she  had  press 
ed  close  up  beside  him,)  "  Pray  ride  back  a  little  way, 
and  take  the  ladies  with  you." 

"  I  will,  but  what  is  the  matter  ? " 

"  The  road  seems  to  be  occupied.  But  go  at  once, 
and  take  them  with  you." 

"  I  wish  it  were  daylight!"  said  she,  trying  to  laugh 
off  her  trepidation."  "  Adventures  by  night  are  more 
than  I  bargained  for.  Come  ladies,  follow  me." 

#"Tom,"  said  L'Isle  to  his  groom,"  without  turning 
his  head,  but  gazing  steadily  at  the  dark  object  across 
the  water,  "  Follow  Lady  Mabel." 

"  Better  send  the  Doctor,  sir,"  said  Tom,  doggedly. 
"  He  has  not  sword  or  pistol." 


304  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

"  Whoever  they  are,"  said  L'Isle  to  Cranfield,  "  they 
have  posted  themselves  badly  for  surprise  or  attack. 
Let  us  form  here  on  the  slope  of  the  hank,  and  if  they 
attempt  to  cross,  fall  on  them  as  they  come  out  of  the 
water." 

Officers  and  servants  fell  into  line — a  hadly  armed 
troop,  with  infantry  swords,  and  some  without  pistols. 
Meanwhile,  L'Isle  sent  Elatton's  down  to  the  edge  of 
the  river  to  challenge  the  opposite  party. 

"  Now,  Hatton's  knowledge  of  foreign  tongues  was 
pretty  much  limited  to  those  vituperative  epithets 
which  are  first  and  oftenest  heard  in  every  language. 
He  rode  down  to  the  edge  of  the  water,  and  proceed 
ed  loudly  to  anathamatize  his  opponents  in  Portu 
guese.  Spanish  and  French  successively.  Having 
exhausted  his  foreign  vocabulary,  he  hurled  at  them 
some  well  shotted  English  phrases — but  the  heretics 
did  not  heed  the  damnatory  clauses,  even  in  plain 
English.  Not  a  word  could  he  get  in  reply  from 
them.  L'Isle  literally  and  figuratively  in  the  dark, 
grew  impatient,  and  announced  his  intention  to  com 
mence  a  pistol  practice  on  them  that  would  draw  out 
some  demonstration.  He  rode  down  to  the  water's 
edge,  and  was  leveling  a  long  pistol  at  the  middle  of 
the  dark  mass,  when  some  epithet  of  Hatton's  more 
stinging  than  any  he  had  yet  invented,  proved  to/) 
much  for  Goring's  gravity.  He  began  -to  laugh,  and 
the  contagion  seized  every  dragoon  of  the  party.  The 
mask  of  hostility  fell  off,  and  they  were  instantly  re 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  305 

cognized  as  friends,  to  the  great  relief  of  those  on  the 
other  bank. 

Provoked  as  they  were  at  this  practical  joke,  their 
position  had  been  too  ridiculous  not  to  be  amusing. 
After  a  hearty  langh,  they  hastened  to  bring  back 
the  ladies,  who  were  not  found  close  at  hand,  for 
Dona  Carlotta  and  her  friends  had  been  posting  back 
to  Badajoz,  and  Lady  Mabel  had  only  succeeded  in 
stopping  them  by  the  assurance  that  the  road  was 
doubtless  beset,  both  before  and  behind  them.  When 
the  two  parties,  now  united,  had  taken  their  way  back 
to  Elvas,  Lieutenant  Goring  found  an  opportunity  of 
putting  himself  alongside  of  Lady  Mabel. 

She  reproached  him  with  the  boyish  trick  he  had 
just  perpetrated.  It  might  so  easily  have  had  fatal 
consequences.  Goring,  himself  began  to  think  it  not 
so  witty  as  he  had  fancied  it. 

"  It  was  very  provoking,  though,"  said  he,  "  to  be 
left  out  of  your  pleasant  part}^.  I  hope  you  will  con 
sider  that,  Lady  Mabel,  and  forgive  me  for  the  little 
alarm  I  have  given  you." 

"Not  to-night,"  said  she.  "My  nerves  are  quite 
too  much  shaken.  But  if  I  sleep  well,  and  feel  like 
myself  again,  I  may  possibly  forgive  you  to-morrow.'? 
13* 


306  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

(Rosalind  reading  a  paper.} 

From  the  east  to  western  Ind, 

No  jewel  is  like  Rosalind, 

Her  worth  being  mounted  on  the  wind, 

Through  all  the  world  bears  Rosalind, 

All  the  pictures  fairest  lined, 

Are  but  black  to  Rosalind, 

Let  no  face  be  kept  in  mind, 

But  the  face  of  Rosalind. 

Touchstone. — I'll  rhyme  you  so,  eight  years  together;  dinners  and 
suppers,  and  sleeping  hours  excepted ;  it  is  the  right  butter-woman's 
rank  to  market.  As  You  LIKE  IT. 

WHENEVER  L'Isle  took  holiday  from  his  military 
duties,  he  was  pretty  sure  to  take  it  out  of  his  regi 
ment,  the  next  day.  On  parade,  next  morning,  he 
inspected  the  ranks,  bent  on  detecting  some  defect  in 
bearing  or  equipment,  and  peered  into  the  faces  of  the 
men,  as  if  hunting  out  the  culprits  in  the  latest  breach 
of  discipline.  Men  and  officers  looked  for  a  three 
hours'  drill,  to  improve  their  wind,  and  put  them  in 
condition.  But,  to  their  great  comfort,  he  soon  let 
them  off,  and  hastened  back  to  his  quarters.  Arrived 
there,  he  called  to  his  man  for  his  portfolio,  and  at 
once  sat  down  to  write  as  if  he  had  a  world  of  corres 
pondence  before  him.  But  it  was  plain  to  this  man, 
\vho  had  occasion  to  come  often  into  the  room,  that 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  307 

his  master  did  not  get  through  his  work  with  his 
usual  facility.  He  found  him,  not  so  often  writing, 
as  leaning  on  the  table  in  laborious  cogitation,  or  bit 
ing  the.  feather  end  of  his  quill,  or  rapping  his  fore 
head  with  his  knuckles,  to  stimulate  the  action  of  the 
organs  within,  or  else  striding  up  and  down  the  room, 
in  a  brown  study,  over  sundry  half- written  and  dis 
carded  sheets  of  paper,  scattered  on  the  floor.  L'Isle's 
servant  wished  to  speak  to  him,  but  was  too  wise  to 
disturb  him  in  the  midst  of  those  throes  of  mental 
labor.  But,  when  pausing  suddenly  in  his  walk,  he 
pressed  his  forefinger  on  his  temple,  and  exclaimed, 
"  I  had  it  last  night,  and  now  I  have  lost  it !"  his  con 
fidential  man  thought  it  time  to  speak.  "  What  is  it, 
sir,  shall  I  look  for  it  ?" 

L'Isle  stared  at  him,  as  if  just  roused  from  a  reverie, 
and  bursting  into  a  hearty  laugh,  bid  him  go  down 
stairs  until  he  called  for  him. 

Down  stairs  he  went,  and  told  his  two  companions 
that  their  master  was  at  work  on  the  toughest  despatch 
or  report,  or  something  of  that  sort,  he  had  ever  had 
to  make  in  his  life,  adding,  "I  would  not  be  surprised 
if  something  came  of  it." 

"  I  have  not  a  doubt,"  answered  Tom,  the  groom, 
in  a  confident  tone,  "  that  the  colonel  has  found  out 
some  new  way  to  jockey  the  French,  and  is  about  to 
lay  it  before  Sir  Rowland  Hill,  or,  perhaps  my  Lord 
Wellington  himself." 

Being  men  of  leisure,  they  were  still  busy  discuss 
ing  their  master's  affairs,  and  had  begun  to  wonder  if 


308  THE   ACTKESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

he  had  forgotten  that  it  was  time  to  go  to  dinner, 
when  L'Isle  called  for  his  man;  but  it  was  only  to  bid 
him  send  the  groom  up  to  him. 

With  an  obedient  start,  Tom  hastened  np  stairs. 
In  a  few  minutes,  he  came  down  with  an  exceedingly 
neatly  folded  despatch  in  his  hand.  lie  seemed  to 
have  gained  in  that  short  interval  no  little  accession  of 
importance.  He  had  quite  sunk  the  groom,  and 
strode  into  the  room  with  the  air  of  an  ambassador. 

"  Now,  my  lads,  without  even  stopping  to  wet  my 
whistle,"  said  he,  "  I  will  but  sharpen  my  spurs,  sad 
dle  my  horse,  and  then — " 
"  What  then?"  asked  his  comrades. 
"  I  will  ride  off  on  my  important  mission." 
"  Were  you  right?"  asked  L'Isle's  gentleman.     "  Is 
that  for  Sir  Eowland  Hill  ?" 

"  Sir  Rowland,"  answered  Tom,  carelessly,  "  is  not 
the  most  considerable  personage  with  whom  master 
may  correspond.  And  as  the  army  post  goes  every 
day  to  Coma,  he  would  hardly  send  me  thither." 

"  Can  it  be  for  the  commander-in-chief  ?"  suggested 
the  footman.  "  That  is  farther  off  still." 

"  You  are  but  half-right,"  said  Tom,  contemptuous 
ly  ;  "for  it  is  not  so  far,"  and,  holding  up  the  letter, 
he  pretended  to  read  the  direction  :  "  c  To  his  excel 
lency,  Lieutenant-General  Sir  Mabel  Stewart,  com 
mander-in-chief  of  his  majesty's  forces  in  these  parts.' 
If  you  had  not  been  blockheads,  you  might  have 
known  it,  from  the  extraordinary  neatness  of  the 
rose-colored  envelope,  with  its  figured  green  border." 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  309 

"  I  wonder  where  he  got  it  ?"  said  the  footman. 

"  He  brought  them  out  with  him  from  home,"  said 
Tom,  as  if  he  were  in  ail  his  master's  secrets,  "  for  his 
love-letters  to  the  Portuguese  ladies — but  never  met 
with  any  worth  writing  love-letters  to.  And,  now, 
my  lads,  hinder  me- no  longer,  I  must  ride  and  run  till 
this  be  delivered  to  my  lady,  and  your  mistress,  that 
is  to  be."  He  was  soon  in  the  saddle,  and  when  there, 
rode  as  if  carrying  the  news,  that  a  French  division, 
having  surprised  the  dreamy  Spaniards  in  Badajoz, 
was  already  fording  the  Cayo,  without  meeting  even 
Goring's  handful  of  dragoons,  to  check  its  advance. 

L'Isle  now  hastened  to  the  regimental  mess,  and, 
after  dining,  loitered  there  longer  than  usual,  with  a 
convivial  set,  until  it  was  late  enough  to  visit  Lady 
Mabel. 

He  found  her  alone,  in  her  drawing-room  ;  her  father 
being  still  at  table,  with  some  companions,  the  murmur 
of  whose  voices  and  laughter  now  and  then  reached 
L'Isle's  ears. 

"  Lieutenant  Goring,  who  is  down  stairs,"  said  Lady 
Mabel,  "  has  been  amusing  us  at  dinner  with  his  ver 
sion  of  our  adventure  at  the  ford  of  the  Cayo  ;  and  a 
very  good  story  he  makes  of  it,  giving  some  rich 
samples  of  Captain  Hatton's  polyglot  eloquence.  He, 
alone,  seems  not  to  have  been  in  the  dark  ;  and  saw 
all,  and  more  than  all,  that  occurred — nor  does  he 
forget  you  in  the  picture.  But,  papa  cannot  see  the 
wit  of  it  at  all." 

"  JSurlas  de  manos,  lurlas  de  villanos.    There  sel- 


310  THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

dom  is  wit  in  practical  jokes,"  said  L'Isle  ;  "but  there 
was  certainly  more  wit  than  wisdom  in  this." 

" By-the-bye,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "our  excursion 
yesterday  has  procured  me  anew  correspondent.  You 
will  be  astonished  to  hear  who  he  is,  and  at  the  style 
in  which  he  writes." 

"Indeed!"  said  L'Isle,  with  heightening  color. 
I  hope  he  writes  on  an  agreeable  topic,  and  in  a  suit 
able  style  ?" 

"You  shall  judge  for  yourself,"  said  Lady  Mabel. 
"  But  the  grandiloquence  of  the  epistle,  worthy  of 
Captain  Don  Alonzo  Melendez  himself,  calls  not  for 
reading,  but  recitation.  Do  you  sit  here  as  critic, 
while  I  take  my  stand  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  and 
give  it  utterance  with  all  the  elocution  and  pathos  I 
can  muster.  You  must  know  that  this  epistle  I  hold 
in  my  hand,  is  addressed  to  me  by  no  less  a  person 
age  than  the  river-god  of  the  Guadiana,  who,  contrary 
to  all  my  notions  of  mythology,  proves  to  be  a  gentle 
man,  and  not  a  lady."  And,  in  a  slightly  mock-heroic 
tone,  she  began  to  recite  it : 

Maiden,  the  sunshine  of  thine  eye, 

Flashing  my  joyous  waves  along, 
The  magic  of  thy  soul-lit  smile, 

Have  waked  my  murmuring  voice  to  song. 

Winding  through  Hispania's  mountains, 

Watering  her  sunburnt  plains, 
I,  from  earliest  time,  have  gladdened 

Dwellers  on  these  wide  domains. 

I  have  watched  succeeding  races, 
Peopling  my  fertile  strand, 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE.  311 

Marked  each  varying  lovely  model, 
Moulded  by  Nature's  plastic  hand. 

Striving  still  to  reach  perfection, 
Ruthless,  she  broke  each  beauteous  mould; 

Some  blemish  still  deformed  her  creature, 
Some  alloy  still  defiled  her  gold. 

The  Iberian  girl  has  often  bathed, 

Her  limbs  in  my  delighted  flood, 
And  no  Acteon  came  to  startle 

This  very  Dian  of  the  wood. 

The  stately  Roman  maid  has  loitered, 

Pensive,  upon  my  flowering  shore, 
Shedding  some  pearly  drops  to  think, 

Italia  she  may  see  no  more. 

While  gazing  on  my  placid  face, 

She  meditates  her  distant  home ; 
And  rears,  as  upon  Tiber's  banks, 

The  towers  of  imperial  Rome. 

The  blue-eyed  daughter  of  the  Goth, 

Fresh  from  her  northern  forest-home, 
In  rude  nobility  of  race, 

Foreshadowed  her  who  now  has  come. 

The  loveliest  offspring  of  the  Moor 

Beside  my  moon-lit  current  sat ; 
And,  sighing,  sung  her  hopeless  love, 

In  strains,  that  I  remember  yet. 

The  Christian  knight,  in  captive  chains, 

The  conqueror  of  her  heart  has  proved ; 
His  own,  in  far  Castilian  bower, 

He  bears  her  blandishments  unmoved. 

Thus  Nature  tried  her  'prentice  hand, 

Become,  at  last,  an  artist  true  ; 
In  inspiration's  happiest  mood, 

She  tried  again,  and  moulded  you. 

Maiden,  from  my  crystal  surface, 


312  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

May  thy  image  never  fade ; 
Longing,  longing,  to  embrace  thee, 
I,  alas !  embrace  a  shade. 

Fainter  glows  each  beauteous  image, 

Thy  beauty  vanishing  before ; 
I  will  clasp  thy  lovely  shadow, 

Fate  will  grant  to  me  no  more. 

If  the  verses  were  not  very  good,  L'Isle  was  ready 
to  acknowledge  it;  but,  in  fact,  he  had  not  the  fear  of 
criticism  before  his  eyes;  for  when  did  lady  ever  crit 
icise  verses  made  in  her  praise?  But  he  had  reckoned 
without  his  host.  Though  Lady  Mabel  recited  them 
exceedingly  well,  in  a  way  that  showred  that  she  must 
have  read  them  over  many  times,  and  dwelt  upon 

them,  there  was  an  under-current  of  ridicule  runnino- 

& 

through  her  tones  and  action — for  she  had  personified 
the  river-god — :and  when  she  was  done,  she  criticised 
them  with  merciless  irony. 

"This  is  no  timid  rhymster,"  she  exclaimed,  "but 
a  true  poet  of  the  Spanish  school :  No  figure  is  too 
bold  for  him.  A  mere  versifier  would  have  likened  a 
lady's  eyes  to  earthly  diamonds '  or  heavenly  stars ; 
the  blessed  sun  itself  is  not  too  bright  for  our  poet's 
purpose. — My  timid  fancy  dared  not  follow  his  soaring 
wing;  to  me  at  the  first  glance,  the  'stately  Roman 
maid'  was  building  her  mimic  Rome  on  the  banks  of 
the  Guadiana  with  solid  stone  and  tough  cement,  and 
I  saddened  at  the  sight  of  her  labors.  To  come  down 
to  the  mechanism  of  the  verse,"  she  continued,  "  be 
sides  a  false  rhyme  or  two,  the  measure  halts  a  little. 


THE  ACTEESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  313 

— But  we  must  not  forget  that  the  river-god  is  taking 
a  poetical  stroll  in  the  shackles  of  a  foreign  tongue. 
In  this  case  we  have  good  assurance  that  the  poet  has 
never  been  out  of  his  own  country,  and  to  the  eye  of 
a  foreigner  '  flood'  and  '  wood'  and  '  home'  and  '  come' 
are  perfect  rhymes.  "We  must  deal  gently  with  the 
poet  while  c  trying  his  'prentice  hand,'  hoping  better 
things  when  he  shall  '  become  an  artist  true  ; '  and 
when  we  remember  that  to  the  national  taste  sublim 
ity  is  represented  by  bombast,  artifice  takes  the  place 
of  nature,  and  sense  is  sacrificed  to  sound,  the  love  of 
the  ore  rotundo  demand  ing  mouth-filling  words  at  any 
price,  we  cannot  fail  to  discover  the  genuine  Spanish 
beauties  of  the  piece.  I  only  wonder  that  in  his  chron 
ological  picture  of  the  races  he  should  omit  to  display 
the  Phoenician,  Jewish  and  Gipsy  maidens  to  our  ad 
miring  eyes." 

"  Heyday  !  "  exclaimed  Colonel  Bradshawe,  who 
now  came  in  with  Major  Warren,  while  she  was  still 
standing  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  with  the  paper 
raised  in  her  hand,  "  Is  this  a  rehearsal  ?  Are  we  to 
have  private  theatricals,  with  Lady  Mabel  for  first  and 
sole  actress  ?  With  songs  interspersed  for  her  as  pri- 
ma  donna  f  Pray  let  me  come  in  as  one  of  the  dram 
atis  person®" 

"It  is  no  play  !  "  said  Lady  Mabel,  much  confused. 
I  have  just  been  throwing  away  my  powers  of  elocu 
tion  in  an  attempt  to  make  Colonel  L'lsle  perceive  the 
beauties  of  a  piece  of  model  poetry,  moulded  in  the 
purest  Spanish  taste.  I  thought  him  gifted  with  some 


314  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

poetic  feeling,  but  he  shows  not  the  slightest  sense  of 
its  peculiar  merits." 

L'Isle,  though  much  out  of  countenance,  had  kept 
his  seat  through  the  recitation,  but  now  got  up  look 
ing  little  pleased  with  it. 

"  Try  me,"  said  Major  Warren.  "  You  may  be 
more  successful  in  finding  a  critic." 

"  I  never  suspected  you  of  any  critical  acumen," 
said  Lady  Mabel ;  "  and  so  could  not  be  disappointed." 

"  Do  not  overlook  me,"  said  Bradshawe.  "  Poetry 
is  the  expression  of  natural  feeling,  in  a  state  of  exal 
tation.  Now,  I  am  alw*ays  in  an  exalted  state  of  feel 
ing  in  your  company,  and  may  be  just  now  a  very 
capable  judge." 

"  No ;  one  failure  is  enough  for  me,"  said  Lady 
Mabel.  "  I  am  not  in  the  humor  to  repeat  it." 

u  Let  me  read  it  then,"  said  Bradshawe,  offering  to 
take  the  paper  from  her  hand. 

Lady  Mabel  declined,  and  L'Isle  tried  to  divert  his 
attention.  But  Braclshawe's  curiosity  was  strongly 
excited,  and  he  made  more  than  one  playful  attempt 
to  get  possession  of  the  verses.  Upon  this,  Lady 
Mabel  went  to  the  table  near  which  L'Isle  was  stand 
ing,  and  pretended  to  hide  them  between  the  pages  of 
one  of  the  books  there.  L'Isle,  anxious  that  they 
should  be  kept  from  every  eye  but  hers,  watched  her 
closely.  Could  he  believe  his  eyes?  As  she  stooped 
over  the  table,  she  actually,  unobserved,  as  she 
thought,  slipped  the  verses  into  her  bosom.  Brad 
shawe  pertinaciously  began  to  search  the  volumes ; 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  315 

on  which,  Lady  Mabel  took  up  the  largest  of  them, 
and  with  a  grave  face  carried  it  out  of  the  room, 
leaving  L'Isle  so  well  satisfied  with  her  care  for  his 
epistle,  that,  by  the  time  she  came  back,  he  was  ready 
to  bear,  without  flinching,  any  severity  of  criticism. 

The  rest  of  the  company  below  being  gone,  Lord 
Strathern  now  entered  the  room.  "  Ah,  L'Isle,  I  am 
glad  to  find  you  here;  I  was  just  about  to  send  after 
you.  I  have  this  moment  received  a  dispatch  from 
Sir  Rowland.  He  needs  you  for  a  special  service,  and 
this  letter  contains  his  instructions." 

"Is  it  in  verse,  Papa?"  asked  Lady  Mabel,  coming 
close  up  beside  her  father. 

"  In  verse,  child  ?  What  are  you  dreaming  of?  Sir 
Rowland  is  a  sane  man,  and  never  writes  verses?" 

"  I  thought  it  might  be  a  growing  custom  to  corres 
pond  in  verse.  The  last  letter  I  received  was  in  regu 
lar  stanzas." 

"  Who  from  ?"  asked  Lord  Strathern. 

"  A  Spaniard — a  genuine  Spaniard,  of  the  purest 
water,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  And,  strange  to  tell,  I 
never  saw  him  but  once  in  my  life." 

"The  impudent  rascal!"  exclaimed  his  lordship. 
"  I  will  have  him  horsewhipped  by  way  of  answer,  a 
stripe  for  every  line." 

"  Nay,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  "  a  stripe  for  every  bad 
line  will  be  cutting  criticism  enough." 

"  Who  is  this  fellow  ?  Is  it  the  Don  Alonso  Me- 
lendez  you  were  telling  me  of?" 

"  Never  mind  his  name,  Papa.     1  am  afraid  you 


316  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

might  have  him  flayed  alive,  while  the  poor  fel 
low  deserves  nothing  hut  laughter  for  his  doggerel." 
And  while  this  doggerel  was  secretly  pressed  by  her 
bosom,  she  stole  a  look  at  L'Isle,  and  was  surprised  to 
see  how  little  galled  he  seemed  to  be  by  her  ridicule. 

"  What  is  the  burden  of  Sir  Rowland's  verses  ?"  she 
asked,  addressing  him. 

"Very  true!"  exclaimed  L'Isle;  "I  had  forgotten 
to  read  it."  And  breaking  the  seal,  he  ran  his  eye 
hastily  over  the  letter.  "  I  must  leave  Elvas  at  once, 
and  be  away  some  days,"  he  said,  with  a  look  of  dis 
satisfaction. 

"  Sir  Rowland  is  very  fond  of  sending  you  on  his 
errands,"  remarked  Lord  Strathern.  "  And,  hitherto 
you  seemed  to  like  the  extra  work  he  gave  you." 

"I  would  be  gladly  excused  from  it  just  now,"  an 
swered  L'Isle,  and  in  spite  of  himself,  his  eye  wandered 
toward  Lady  Mabel.  Lord  Strathern  did  not  observe 
this,  but  said,  jestingly:  "I  believe  you  have  con 
trived  to  convince  Sir  Rowland  that  none  of  us  can  do 
any  thing  so  well  as  you  can,"  but  there  was  a  little 
tone  of  pique  in  the  way  this  was  said. 

"  I  have  made  no  attempt  to  do  so,"  L'Isle  an 
swered.  "But  he  has  given  me  some  thing  to  do 
now,  and  I  must  set  about  it  at  once."  Taking  leave 
of  Lady  Mabel,  he  held  a  short  private  conference 
with  his  lordship,  and,  when  he  went  out  to  mount 
his  horse,  found  Colonel  Ifradshawe  already  in  the 
saddle,  waiting  for  him.  This  annoyed  him,  for  he  in 
stinctively  knew  Bradshawe's  object,  and  looked  to 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  317 

be  ingeniously  cross-questioned  as  to  the  verses  which 
Lady  Mabel  had  recited,  and  then  criticised  so  un 
sparingly.  Unwilling  to  let  Brad  sh  a  we  stretch  him 
on  the  rack  for  his  amusement,  L'Isle  assumed  the  of 
fensive,  and  at  once  broached  another  matter  which 
he  had  much  at  heart. 

"I  wonder  when  we  will  leave  Elvas,"  he  ex 
claimed,  abruptly.  "  If  we  stay  here  much  longer, 
we  will  be  at  war  with  the  people  around  us.  1  never 
knew  my  lord  so  negligent  of  discipline.  It  evidently 
grows  upon  him." 

"  The  old  gentleman,"  said  Bradshawe,  carelessly, 
"  certainly  holds  the  reins  with  a  slack  hand." 

"  lie  is  content  with  preserving  order  in  Elvas," 
said  L'Isle ;  "  but  turns  a  deaf  ear  to  almost  every 
complaint  the  peasantry  make  against  our  people." 

"  Many  of  them  are  lies,"  said  Bradshawe,  coolly. 

"And  many  of  them  are  too  well  founded,"  an 
swered  LTsle.  "  You  are  the  senior  officer  in  the 
brigade,  and  a  man  of  no  little  tact.  Could  you  not 
stir  my  lord  up  to  looking  more  closely  into  this 
matter." 

"  I  will  think  of  it,"  said  Bradshawe,  anxious  to 
open  a  more  interesting  subject. 

"Pray  think  of  it  speedily,"  said  L'Isle.  "There 
is  no  time  to  be  lost,  and  I  must  lose  no  time  now. 
The  sun  has  set,  and  I  must  be  in  Olivenca  by  mid 
night." 

"  What  will  you  do  there?"  asked  Bradshawe. 

"  Bait  my  horses  on  my  way  into  Andalusia,"  an- 


318  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

swered  L'Isle,  riding  off  at  full  gallop,  leaving  Brad- 
shawe  much  provoked  at  his  slipping  out  of  his  hands 
before  he  could  put  him  to  the  question. 


THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  319 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

Who  cannot  be  crushed  with  a  plot  ? 

ALL  is  WELL  THAT  ENDS  WELL. 

Sm  ROWLAND  HILL  had  sent  L'Isle  off  to  the  south 
ward,  to  ascertain  the  strength  and  condition  of  the 
reserve  of  Spanish  troops  moving  up  from  Andalusia. 
One  might  think  that  these  things  could  be  better 
learned  from  the  official  reports  of  the  Conde  d'Abis- 
pal  and  the  officers  under  him.  But  from  the  Prince 
of  Parma's  day  to  this,  Spanish  officers  in  reporting 
the  number  and  condition  of  their  commands,  have 
made  it  a  rule  to  state  what  they  ought  to  be,  not 
what  they  are,  leaving  all  deficiencies  to  be  found  out 
on  the  day  of  battle.  Sir  Rowland,  knowing  this, 
now  made  use  of  L'Isle,  whose  knowledge  of  the 
Spanish  language  and  character,  and  his  acquaintance 
with  many  officers  of  rank,  enabled  him  to  ascertain 
the  truth  without  betraying  the  object  of  his  mission, 
or  giving  offence  to  these  proud  and  jealous  allies. 
Ten  days  had  gone  by  when  he  again  rode  into  Elvas, 
and  in  spite  of  the  secrecy  aimed  at  in  military  coun 
cils,  many  symptoms  indicated  that  the  campaign  was 
about  to  open. 

It  was  high  time  for  the  brigade  to  leave  this  part 
of  the  country.  The  soldiers  were  disgusted  with  the 


320  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

sluggish  people  around  them,  keen  and  active  only  in 
their  efforts  to  make  money  out  of  their  protectors. 
The  Portuguese  were  exasperated  at  the  insolence  of 
their  allies,  their  frequent  depredations  and  occasional 
acts  of  violence,  many  of  which  went  unpunished  ;  for 
the  English  officers,  always  professing  the  utmost  rea 
diness  to  punish  the  offences  of  their  men,  were  singu 
larly  scrupulous  and  exacting  as  to  the  collusiveness 
of  the  proofs  of  guilt. 

Lord  Srrathern's  lax  discipline  may  have  aggra 
vated,  but  had  not  caused  the  evil,  which  was  felt 
throughout  Portugal.  The  Regency,  while  proving 
itself  unable  to  govern  the  country,  or  reform  a  single 
abuse,  had  shown  its  ability  to  harass  their  allies  and 
embarrass  the  general  charged  with  the  conduct  of 
the  war.  "  A  narrow  jealousy  had  long  ruled  their 
conduct,  and  the  spirit  of  captious  discontent  had  now 
reached  the  inferior  magistracy,  who  endeavored  to 
excite  the  people  against  the  military  generally. 
Complaints  came  in  from  all  quarters,  of  outrages  on 
the  part  of  the  troops,  some  too  true,  but  many  of 
them  false  or  frivolous  ;  and  when  Wellington  ordered 
courts-martial  for  the  trial  of  the  accused,  the  magis 
trates  refused  to  attend  as  witnesses,  because  Portu 
guese  custom  rendered  such  attendance  degrading, 
and  by  Portuguese  law  a  magistrate's  written  testi 
mony  was  efficient  in  courts-martial.  Wellington  in 
vain  assured  them  that  English  law  would  not  suffer 
him  to  punish  men  on  such  testimony  ;  in  vain  he 
pointed  out  the  mischief  which  must  infallibly  over- 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  321 

whelm  the  country,  if  the  soldiers  discovered  that  they 
might  thus  do  evil  with  impunity.  He  offered  to 
send,  in  each  case,  lists  of  Portuguese  witnesses  re 
quired,  that  they  might  be  summoned  by  the  native 
authorities;  but  nothing  could  overcome  the  obsti 
nacy  of  the  magistrates ;  they  answered  that  his 
method  was  insolent ;  and  with  sullen  malignity  con 
tinued  to  accumulate  charges  against  the  troops,  to 
refuse  attendance  in  the  courts,  and  to  call  the  sol 
diers,  their  own  as  well  as  the  British,  '  licensed  spoli 
ators  of  the  community.' ': 

"  For  a  time  the  generous  nature  of  the  poor  people 
resisted  all  these  combined  causes  of  discontent,  *  * 
*  *  *  yet  by  degrees  the  affection  for  the  British 
cooled,  and  "Wellington  expressed  his  fears  that  a  civil 
war  would  commence  between  the  Portuguese  people 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  troops  of  both  nations  on  the 
other.  Wherefore  his  activity  to  draw  all  military 
strength  to  a  head,  and  make  such  an  irruption  into 
Spain,  as  would  establish  a  new  base  of  operations 
beyond  the  power  of  such  fatal  dissensions." 

Throughout  the  war  this  great  captain's  hardest 
tasks  had  been  to  conciliate  the  jealous,  vain-glorious 
Spaniard,  to  stimulate  the  laggard  suspicious  Portu 
guese,  to  enlighten  the  invincible  ignorance  of  Re 
gency  and  Juntas,  in  order  to  draw  out  and  combine 
the  resources  of  both  countries  with  the  scanty  means 
afforded  him  by  his  own  blundering  government.  He 
was  required  to  do  great  things  with  small  means, 
without  offending  one  tittle  against  the  laws,  customs 
14 


822  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

and  prejudices  of  three  dissimilar  nations.  He  might 
toil,  fret  and  fume,  wearing  himself  to  the  bone,  but 
could  never  get  rid  of  this  task  of  making  ropes  out 
of  sea-sand.  So  much  as  to  the  state  of  the  country. 
Let  us  return  to  our  story. 

L'Isle  reached  Elvas  early  in  the  day,  and  resolved 
to  reward  himself  for  his  labors,  by  paying  a  visit  to 
Lady  Mabel  ;  then  after  a  conference  with  Lord 
Strathern,  to  sit  down  and  write  his  report  to  Sir 
Rowland,  on  the  state  of  the  Andalusian  reserve.  He 
knew  that  Sir  Rowland  looked  for  a  precise  and  pithy 
statement,  and  L'Isle  mean  this  to  be  a  model  for  all  such 
communications.  But  fate  may  mar  the  wisest  plan. 

He  found  Lady  Mabel  and  Mrs.  Shortridge  together, 
and  soon  perceived  that  the  latter  lady's  head  was  full 
of  an  entertainment  she  was  about  to  give. 

"  The  commissary  has  warned  me,"  she  said  "  that 
from  henceforth  he  will  be  ever  on  the  move — that 
he  must  break  up  his  household  here,  and  send  off 
his  heavy  baggage  to  Lisbon.  In  this  he  very  polite 
ly  includes  his  wife." 

"I  am  truly  sorry  to  hear  it,"  said  L'Isle,  "  but 
confess  that  first  among  a  soldier's  impedimenta  must 
be  reckoned  his  wife." 

"  I  did  not  look  for  so  blunt  an  assent  to  the  com 
missary's  opinion  from  you,"  said  Mrs.  Shortridge, 
somewhat  nettled ;  "  however,  I  am  to  go,  and  as 
many  of  the  good  folks  of  Elvas  have  been  as  polite  to 
me  as  they  know  how,  I  wish  to  show  my  sense  of  it 
in  parting.  I  have  invited  all  my  Portuguese  friends, 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  323 

with  a  good  sprinkling  of  red  coats  to  meet  them.  I 
have  put  myself  to  infinite  trouble  and  no  little  ex 
pense,  meaning  to  have  a  grand  evening,  combining 
turtulia,  concert  and  ball.  I  would  show  these  peo 
ple  something  of  society  and  life,  then  vanish  from  El- 
v as  in  a  blaze  of  glory.  Now,  as  the  rarest  treat  that 
I  could  offer,  I  had  promised  my  guests  that  they 
should  hear  Lady  Mabel  in  all  her  glorious  richness 
of  voice ;  and  now  she  is  seized  with  a  sudden  fit  of 
modesty,  and  protests  against  being  exhibited  before 
a  motly  crowd  like  an  opera  singer." 

Lady  Mabel's  reluctance  was  not  feigned  ;  and 
when  Mrs.  Shortridge  called  on  L'Isle  for  assistance 
in  overcoming  it,  he  felt  some  scruples  at  lending  his 
aid.  But  her  companion  and  friend  was  about  to 
leave  her;  it  was  painful  to  refuse  her  a  favor  on 
which  she  plainly  laid  great  stress.  Friendship  and 
flattery  at  length  prevailed,  and  Lady  Mabel  prom 
ised  to  do  her  utmost  to  charm  the  ears  of  the  natives, 
on  condition  that  L'Isle  should  be  at  hand  as  her  in 
terpreter,  and  say  to  them  for  her  a  dozen  polite  and 
half  as  many  witty  things  for  every  song  she  sang,  in 
order  that  these  foreigners  might  not  mistake  her  for 
a  mere  singer. 

L'Isle  pledged  himself  to  be  at  her  beck  through 
out  the  evening,  and  to  furnish  wit  and  politeness 
without  stint.  This  obstacle  overcome,  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge  was  delighted,  and  talked  gaily  of  her  arrange 
ments  and  anticipations  for  the  appointed  night.  L'Isle 
entering  into  her  humor,  busied  himself  in  draw- 


324  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

ing  out  a  programme  for  Lady  Mabel's  performance, 
and  after  turning  over  all  the  music  at  hand,  made  a 
list  of  songs  long  enough  to  have  cracked  her  voice 
forever.  It  was  late  when  he  suddenly  remembered 
that  he  had  occasion  to  see  Lord  Strathern,  and  he 
tore  himself  away  to  seek  him. 

L'Isle  found  his  lordship  in  the  business  room  of 
his  quarters,  and  quite  at  leisure,  although  seated  by 
a  table  on  which  lay  sundry  papers  in  no  business 
like  order.  Most  of  them  were  despatches,  returns 
and  other  military  documents.  But  among  them 
was  a  goodly  pile  of  communications  from  the  Juizde 
fora  of  more  than  one  neighboring  comarca,  written 
in  eloquent  but  denunciatory  Portuguese,  being,  in 
truth,  philippics  aimed  at  sundry  individuals  or  par 
ties,  belonging  to  his  command. 

The  old  soldier  had  not  treated  them  with  absolute 
neglect.  After  having  the  first  two  or  three  duly 
translated  to  him,  and  making  himself  familiar  with 
the  tenor  of  this  kind  of  document,  he  had  prepared 
a  concise  form  of  reply :  regretting  that  any  of  his 
Majesty's  soldiers  should  be  guilty  of  any  act  of  -vio 
lence,  depredation  or  impropriety  in  the  country  of 
their  friends  and  allies,  and  proposing  that  the  accu 
sers  should  come  forward  and  prove  the  charges  be 
fore  a  court-martial,  according  to  British  laws.  A 
copy  of  this  stereotyped  answer,  turned  into  good 
Portuguese,  was  always  at  hand  to  be  dispatched 
in  reply  to  each  new  complaint,  as  soon  as  it  reached 
headquarters.  Thus  the  correspondence  cost  little 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  325 

trouble  there,  for  Lord  Strathern  had  an  easy-going 
philosophy,  which,  like  an  ambling  pad,  carried  him 
smoothly  over  the  rough  and  intricate  path  of  diplo 
macy,  policy,  and  military  exigencies.  He  knew 
it  was  impossible  to  give  perfect  satisfaction  to  the 
Portuguese,  and  unlike  his  commander,  he  eschewed 
all  such  attempts  to  make  ropes  out  of  sea-sand. 

L'lsle's  entrance  roused  Lord  Strathern  from  a 
pleasant  reverie  over  his  cigar. 

"  Why,  L'Isle !  are  you  back  again  ?  You  cer 
tainly  have  the  gift  of  appearing  just  when  you  are 
wanted.  Is  not  that  the  case  with  a  character  called 
Mephistophiles  ?" 

"  Yes,  my  lord  ;  but  he  is  a  devil,"  said  L'Isle,  drily. 
'  "  I  beg  your  pardon.  I  did  not  mean  to  make  an 
unsavory  comparison.  But  here  is  another  billet- 
doux  from  Sir  Rowland  awaiting  you." 

L'Isle,  taking  the  dispatch  handed  to  him,  broke 
the  seal  and  read  it  deliberately,  then  said :  "  Does 
Sir  Rowland  think  I  keep  an  extra  stud  of  horses,  to 
do  the  riding  that  properly  belongs  to  his  own  staff?" 

"  Why,  where  is  he  sending  you  now  ?" 

"  To  Badajoz,  on  an  errand  similar  to  that  on  which. 
I  went  into  Andalusia." 

"To  Badajoz?  That  is  no  distance  at  all;  at  least 
nothing  to  grumble  at,"  said  Lord  Strathern.  "  You 
are  growing  lazy,  L'Isle.  Why  Mabel  would  ride 
that  far  after  a  rare  flower.  Just  think  you  are 
chasing  a  fox,  who  takes  the  high  road,  and  never 
doubles  once  between  this  and  Badajoz." 


326  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

"  That  would  be  a  fox  of  a  new  breed,"  suggested 
L'Isle. 

"  I  confess,"  said  his  lordship,  "  I  never  started  one 
of  the  kind.  But  Sir  Rowland's  staff  have  their 
hands  full  just  now.  To  lighten  their  labors,  I  have 
had  to  furnish  more  than  one  officer  for  special  duties. 
You  surely  would  not  have  Sir  Rowland  send  an  aid  all 
the  way  from  Coria,  merely  to  see  if  those  Spanish 
fellows  in  Badajoz  are  in  a  state  to  march  without  dis 
banding,  or  without  plundering  the  country  as  they 
move  through  it !" 

"  Talking  of  marauding,  my  lord,"  said  L'Isle ;  "  I 
wish  the  the  taste  for  that  diversion  was  confined  to 
our  Spanish  friends.  It  is  becoming  every  day  more 
necessary  to  check  the  excesses  of  our  own  people. 
AVe  cannot  send  out  a  party  into  the  country  around, 
but  on  their  return  they  are  dogged  at  the  heels  by 
complaints  and  accusations.  When  we  march  hence, 
we  shall  leave  a  villainous  name  behind  us." 

"Oh,  we  will  never  come  back  here  again,"  said 
Lord  Strathern,  carelessly.  "  Moreover,  two-thirds  of 
these  complaints  are  groundless,  and  the  rest  grossly 
exaggerated." 

"  The  sacking  of  the  farmer's  house  on  the  border 
needed  no  exaggeration,"  said  L'Isle. 

"  I  tell  you  that  was  done  by  the  Spaniards,"'  ex 
claimed  Lord  Strathern. 

"  Yet  worse  cases  than  that  have  occurred,  and  gone 
unpunished,"  urged  L'Isle. 

"  Because  they  never  could  prove  the  charge,  and 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  327 

point  out  the  culprits,"  replied  his  lordship.  "The 
country  is  full  of  rateros.  They  commit  the  crimes 
and  our  fellows  bear  the  blame." 

"  That  is  often  true  ;  but  I  have  met  with  one  little 
case  in  which  the  offenders  can  be  pointed  out." 

"  Well,  let  me  hear  it,"  said  Lord  Strathern,  lean 
ing  back  in  his  chair,  as  if  compelled  to  listen,  but 
anxious  to  be  rid  of  the  subject. 

"  I  stopped  for  a  while  on  my  way  back,"  said 
L'Isle,  "  at  a  little  venda  on  this  side  of  Juramenlia. 
The  people  of  the  house  were  shy  and  sullen.  I  had 
to  ask  many  questions  before  I  could  induce  them  to 
speak  freely,  but  at  lerfgth  out  came  a  charge  against 
some  of  our  people.  Three  nights  ago 'five  of  our 
men  had  come  to  the  house,  and,  calling  for  wine,  sat 
down  to  drink.  They  soon  became  riotous,  and  their 
conduct  so  insulting  to  the  man's  wife  and  daughters, 
that  they  ran  away  to  hide  themselves.  When  he 
required  them  to  pay  the  reckoning  and  quit  the 
house,  they  promised  most  liberal  payment,  and  seiz 
ing,  bound  him  to  a  post  in  his  own  stable,  where 
they  gave  him  fifty  lashes  with  a  leathern  strap,  valu 
ing  the  stripes  at  a  vintem  apiece." 

"  The  witty  rascals,"  said  Lord  Strathern  ;  "  I  would 
like  to  repay  them  in  their  own  coin." 

"  Moreover,"  continued  L'Isle,  "  on  the  man's  son 
making  some  resistance  to  their  treatment  x)f  his  father, 
they  bound  the  boy,  too,  and  gave  him  a  dozen  vin- 
tems*  worth  of  the  strap  for  pocket  money." 

" The  liberal  rascals!  "  said  Lord  Strathern  ;   "  they 


328  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

deserve  a  handsome  profit  on  their  outlay.  But  how 
do  you  know,  L'Isle,  that  this  story  is  true  ? " 

"There  is  no  mistake  about  the  flogging,"  exclaimed 
L'Isle.  "  They  used  the  huckle  end  of  the  strap,  and 
I  myself  saw  the  marks,  some  not  yet  scarred  over." 

"  That  silent  witness  may  prove  a  good  deal ;  I  can 
not  call  it  tongueless,"  said  his  lordship,  "  for  I  sup 
pose  the  buckle  had  a  tongue." 

"  I  can  vouch  for  that  by  the  mark  it  left  behind," 
said  L'Isle.  "  Both  father  and  son  swore  that  they 
would  know  the  fellows  among  a  thousand.  But  the 
man  dare  not  come  to  Elvas  to  search  them  out,  as 
the  scamps  promised  faithful!/ to  make  sausage  meat 
of  him  should  he  venture  near  the  town." 

"If  the  cowardly  rascal  will  not  come  forward  and 
lodge  a  complaint,"  said  Lord  Strathern,  "what  the 
devil  can  we  do  ?" 

"We  can  bring  him  here  and  protect  him,"  said 
L'Isle,  "  while  he  hunts  out  the  culprits.  If  necessary, 
I  will  take  him  before  my  regiment,  and  let  him  look 
every  man  in  the  face,  to  see  if  he  can  identify  the 
offenders  in  the  ranks;  and  so  with  other  .regi 
ments." 

"  What !  muster  the  whole  brigade  for  such  a  pol 
troon  to  inspect  them  ! "  exclaimed  Lord  Strathern. 
"  What  are  you  dreaming  of,  L'Isle  ?  It  would  be 
offering  a  bounty  for  accusations  against  the  men. 
Half  these  rascals  would  swear  away  a  man's  life  for 
a  crusado" 

"Perhaps  so,  my  lord.     But  by  cross-questions  and 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  329 

examining  them  apart,  the  truth  may  be  wrung  from 
even  lying  witnesses." 

"  Impossible,  with  these  people ;  the  truth  is  not  in 
them.  Come,  L'Isle,  no  one  knows  better  than  you, 
who  are  so  much  in  Sir  Rowland's  councils,  that  we 
are  on  the  point  of  moving  from  this  part  of  the 
country.  The  little  disorders  that  have  occurred  here, 
can  be  followed  by  no  ill  consequences." 

"  We  carry  the  worse  consequences  with  us,"  said 
L'Isle,  pertinaciously.  "  Little  disorders,  my  lord  ! 
The  peasantry  round  Elvas  do  not  talk  of  them  so. 
They  say  that  their  property  is  plundered,  their  women 
insulted,  and  themselves  at  constant  risk  in  life  and 
limb." 

"What !  do  the  rascals  talk  of  us  in  that  way?  even 
while  we  are  protecting  them,"  exclaimed  Lord 
Strathern,  springing  from  his  chair.  "  We  have  spent 
more  money  among  them  than  their  beggarly  country 
is  worth  in  fee  simple ;  and  they  are  no  more  thankful 
than  if  we  had  occupied  it  as  enemies.  I  wish  they  had 
among  them  again,  for  a  few  weeks,  that  one-handed 
Loison  with  his  cut-throat  bands,  or  pious  Junot,  who 
loved  church  plate  so  well." 

"  It  is  bad  enough  to  be  robbed  by  their  enemies, 
they  say,"  suggested  L'Isle,  "  but  they  did  not  expect 
it  from  their  friends." 

"Pooh."  said  Lord  Strathern,  "the  Portuguese,  of 

all  people,  ought  to  know  what  real  military  license 

is.     The  French  taught  them  that.  As  for  our  fellows, 

what  if  they  do  at  times  drink  a  little  more  wine  than 

U* 


330  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

they  pay  for,  or  even  take  a  lamb  or  kid  from  the 
flocks  they  protect,  or  kiss  a  wench  before  she  has 
consented  ;  is  that  any  thing  to  make  a  hubbub  about? 
The  lads  should  be  paid  for  drinking  their  muddy 
vinho  verde,  and  as  for  the  girls,  all  the  trouble  comes 
of  their  ignorance  of  our  tongue,  so  that  they  have  to 
be  talked  to  by  signs." 

"  You  must  be  jesting,  my  lord.  To  overlook  small 
offences  is  to  license  greater." 

"  I  license  none ;  I  punish  whatever  is  clearly  prov 
ed,  but  will  not  play  grand  Inquisitor,  and  hunt  out 
every  little  peccadillo.  With  your  notions,  L'Isle, 
you  would  bring  the  men  to  confession  every  morning 
and  make  the  service  worse  than  purgatory.  Must  I 
answer  for  it  if  a  girl  squeaks  out,  half  in  jest,  and 
half  in  earnest?" 

L'Isle  was  provoked  to  see  that  Lord  Strath ern  was 
aughing  at  him,  and  said,  earnestly,  "  You  cannot 
have  forgotten,  my  lord,  the  state  of  the  army  at  the 
end  of  the  campaign.  Little  has  yet  been  done  to 
bring  this  brigade  up  to  the  mark,  and  little  will  be 
achieved  by  it  in  the  coming  campaign  in  its  present 
state.  Now  is  the  time  to  check  the  licentious  spirit 
by  making  some  severe  examples." 

"I  will  do  no  such  thing,"  said  Lord  Strathern, 
coolly.  The  occasion  does  not  call  for  it.  We  will 
be  in  the  field  shortly,  and  want  all  the  bayonets  we 
can  muster.  The  brigade  is  too  weak  to  spare  men 
from  the  ranks  to  put  into  irons." 

"  I  did  not  suppose,"  said  L'Isle,  "  that  the  warning 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  331 

my  Lord  Wellington  gave,  us  not  long  since,  would  be 
so  soon  forgotten. 

L'Isle  alluded  to  the  circular  letter  Wellington  had 
addressed  to  his  subordinates,  at  the  end  of  the  cam 
paign,  in  which  he  had  politely  dubbed  half  of  his 
officers  idlers,  whose  habitual  neglect  of  duty  suffered 
their  commands  to  run  into  ruffianism.  Perhaps  their 
commander  was  suffering  under  a  fit  of  indigestion 
when  he  wrote  it.  It  certainly  caused  a  general  heart 
burning  among  his  officers.  Lord  Strathern,  among 
others,  had  found  it  hard  to  digest,  and  now  angrily 
denounced  it  unjust. 

"  Well,  my  lord,"  said  L'Isle,  with  more  zeal  than 
discretion,  "  by  the  end  of  the  campaign  our  men  may 
be  in  a  state  to  be  improved  by  a  touch  of  discipline 
from  Julian  Sanchez  or  Carlos  d?~Espana,  unless  they 
reject  them  as  too  much  like  banditti !" 

"  And  I  am  captain  of  the  banditti !"  exclaimed  lord 
Strathern,  in  a  sudden  rage.  "  As  you  do  not  yet 
command  the  brigade,  let  me  beg  you,  sir,  to  go  and 
look  after  your  own  people,  and  keep  them  up  to  the 
mark,  lest  they  become  banditti !" 

"  I  always  obey  orders,  my  lord,"  said  L'Isle,  with 
suddenly  assumed  composure;  "I  will  go  and  look 
after  my  own  regiment,  and  let  the  rest  of  the  brigade 
march" 

" Where,  sir?"  thundered  Lord  Strathern. 

"  Their  own  road,"  L'Isle  answered,  and  bowed 
himself  out  of  the  room.  He  walked  sedately  through 
the  long  corridor  that  led  to  the  entrance  of  this  mon- 


332  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

astic  house,  then,  yielding  to  some  violent  impulse, 
sprang  into  his  saddle,  and  plunging  his  spurs  into 
his  horse's  flanks,  dashed  out  of  the  court  and  through 
the  olive  grounds  at  a  killing  pace.  His  astonished 
groom  stared  at  him  for  a  moment,  then  followed  with 
emulous  speed.  As  L'Isle  turned  suddenly  into  the 
high  road,  a  voice  called  out :  "  Don't  ride  me  down  ; 
I'm  no  Frenchman  !"  and  he  saw  Colonel  Bradshawe 
quickly  but  coolly  press  his  ambling  cob  close  to  the 
hedge,  to  avoid  his  charge. 

"You  seem  to  be  in  a  hurry,  L'Isle.  Hallo  !  here 
is  another !"  said  the  colonel,  giving  his  horse  another 
dexterous  turn,  to  shun  the  onset  of  the  groom.  "What 
news  has  come?  Or  have  you  joined  the  dragoons? 
Or  are  you  merely  running  a  race  with  your  man 
here?" 

"Neither,  sir,"  said  L'Isle,  who  had  pulled  up  and 
turned  to  speak  to  his  comrade.  His  flashing  eye 
and  excited  manner,  his  thoroughbred  steed,  chafing 
on  the  bit  and  pawing  the  ground,  were  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  unruffled  Bradshawe  on  his  sleek 
cob,  whose  temper  was  as  smooth  as  his  coat. 

"  The  fact  is,"  said  L'Isle,  in  what  was  meant  for 
an  explanatory  tone,  "  I  have  just  had  a  serious  con 
versation  with  Lord  Strathern — " 

"  Which  grew  quite  animated  before  it  came  to  an 
end,"  interjected  Bradshawe,  coolly. 

"In  which  I  took  the  liberty  of  expressing  my 
opinion,"  continued  L'Isle — 

""Rather  strongly  on  the  subject  of  discipline,  mili- 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  333 

tary  license,  and  the  articles  of  war,"  interjected 
Bradshawe  again. 

"You  are  happy  in  your  surmises,  sir,"  said  L'Isle, 
stiffly ;  for  Bradshawe's  imperturbable  manner  chafed 
him  much  in  his  present  mood. 

"Surmises  !  my  dear  fellow.  Do  I  not  know  your 
opinions  and  my  lord's  ?  You  believe  the  rules  and 
regulations  were  made  to  be  enforced  ad  literam,  and 
he  thinks  they  are  to  be  hung  up  in  terrorem.  My 
lord,"  added  Bradshawe,  in  a  calm,  judicial  tone,  is 
the  more  mistaken  of  the  two." 

"Since  you  so  far  agree  with  me,"  said  L'Isle, 
"  would  it  not  be  well  for  you  to  remind  his  lordship 
that  it  is  time  to  enforce  some  of  the  rules  and  regula 
tions  for  the  government  of  his  Majesty's  troops,  if 
he  would  have  his  brigade  consist  of  soldiers,  and  not 
of  robbers." 

"  It  is  very  desirable  to  keep  up  the  distinction  be 
tween  the  two  professions,"  said  Bradshawe.  "  One 
has  a  strong  tendency  to  slide  into  the  other.  Pray, 
tell  me  what  arguments  you  have  been  using  with 
my  lord." 

L'Isle,  with  an  effort  at  calmness,  repeated  the  sub 
stance  of  the  late  conversation,  much  to  Bradshawe's 
amusement;  for  in  him  a  genuine  love  of  mischief 
rivaled  his  epicurean  tastes. 

"  On  one  point,  my  lord  had  the  advantage  of  you," 
said  Bradshawe.  "  It  is  his  privilege  to  bid  you  look 
after  ypur  regiment ;  not  yours  to  bid  him  look  after 
his  brigade." 


334  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"True,"  said  L'Isle,  bitterly.  "  But  as  you,  though 
my  senior,  are  not  my  commander,  I  trust  there  is  no 
insubordination  in  my  telling  you  that  the  brigade  is 
left  to  look  after  itself,  and  is  going  to  the  devil  as 
fast  as  it  can." 

"  As  individuals,"  said  Bradshawe,  "  that  is  the 
probable  destination  of  most  of  us." 

"  We  will  have  to  get  Julian  Sanchez,  or  the  Em- 
pecinado,  or  some  other  guerilla  chief,  to  undertake 
its  reformation,"  continued  L'Isle,  in  great  heat.  "  I 
forgot  to  suggest  to  my  lord,  that  before  we  march 
away,  we  ought  to  levy  a  contribution,  as  a  bounty 
for  the  blessings  we  bestow  on  the  neighborhood  in 
leaving  it." 

"  A  capital  idea,"  said  Bradshawe,  "  but  by  no 
means  original.  The  French  always  do  so  when  they 
change  their  cantonments  ;  that  is,  if  there  be  any 
thing  left  in  the  country  around.  If  our  hands  were 
not  tied,  we  might  yet  learn  some  clever  arts  from 
Monsieur.  Junot's  system  was  to  drive  up  all  the 
farm  cattle  of  the  neighborhood  just  before  he  marched 
off;  then  allow  them  to  be  redeemed  at  a  low  cash 
price.  He  found  it  a  capital  way  to  extract  the  last 
hidden  crusado." 

"  You  have  mastered  the  enemy's  system  thorough 
ly,"  said  L'Isle,  with  a  sneer.  "  But  as  our  hands  are 
tied,  we  cannot  imitate  them.  Perhaps  it  would  bet 
ter  become  your  position  in  the  brigade,  for  you  to 
try  and  rouse  his  lordship  to  the  necessity  of  checking 
the  license  that  is  growing  daily." 


THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  335 

"  I  would  gladly  do  so,"  said  Bradshawe;  but  being 
no  Oxford  logician,  have  not  your  irresistible  power 
of  convincing  him.  You  have  handled  the  matter  so 
fully  and  ably,  that  I  need  only  repeat  faithfully 
every  word  you  have  said.  You  may  depend  upon 
me  for  that."  And,  turning  his  horse,  he  rode  gently 
off  toward  headquarters,  while  L'Isle  galloped  up  the 
hill  to  Elvas. 

Bradshawe  found  Lord  Strathern  in  as  great  a  rage 
as  the  comrade  he  had  just  pal-ted  with  ;  so  he  amused 
himself  with  drawing  out  from  his  lordship  a  recital  of 
their  late  conversation,  which  he  repaid  with  a  sketch 
of  L'Isle's  roadside  conference  with  himself.  The  old 
soldier  was  only  the  more  provoked  on  finding  that, 
freely  as  L'Isle  had  spoken,  he  could  hardly  charge 
him  with  insubordination,  or  twist  his  hot  arguments 
into  a  personal  insult.  Soothing  and  chafing  him  by 
turns,  Bradshawe  did  not  permit  the  subject  to  drop 
until  they  were  interrupted  by  a  courier  with  de 
spatches. 

"  What  is  all  this  !  Post  upon  post !  There  must 
be  some  thing  in  the  wind  !"  said  my  lord,  as  he 
broke  the  seal,  which  was  Sir  Rowland  Hill's. 

"Our  pleasant  winter  here  is  over,  said  Bradshawe, 
with  a  sigh.  "We  will  be  moving  shortly,  and  then 
hot  marches  and  cold  meals,  sour  wine  and  bad  quar 
ters,  or  no  quarters  at  all,  will  be  the  order  of  the  day. 
I  trust  we  shall  move  through  a  more  plentiful  country 
than  we  did  last  year." 

"  It  has  not  quite  come  to   that  yet,"  said  Lord 


336  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

Strathern.  Here  is  an  order  for  me  to  meet  Sir 
Rowland  at  Alcantara,  at  ten,  the  day  after  to-mor 
row.  I  am  to  take  yon  and  Conway  with  me,  for  he 
has  special  instructions  for  yon  both.  And  here  is  an 
order  for  that  modest  fellow  L'Isle  to  attend  and  re 
port  the  state  of  the  Andalnsian  reserve.  I  expect 
Conway  to  dinner.  You  had  better  stay  and  meet 
him." 

In  due  time  Major  Conway  appeared,  and  dinner 
was  announced.  Mrs.  Shortridge  had  gone  home,  so 
that  only  two  guests  sat  down  with  Lady  Mabel  and 
her  father.  No  man  made  himself  more  agreeable 
in  his  own  house  and  at  his  own  table  than  Lord 
Strathern  usually  did,  for  hospitality  was  with  him  an 
article  of  religion.  But  to-day  my  lord  was  not  in  a 
religious  frame  of  mind.  He  was  moody  and  silent, 
or  growled  at  his  servants,  and  gave  short  answers  to 
his  guests  ;  so  that  Major  Conway,  after  sundry  at 
tempts  to  engage  him  in  conversation,  gave  it  up,  and 
joined  Bradshawe  in  his  efforts  to  entertain  Lady 
Mabel.  At  length  the  cloth  was  removed,  the  ser 
vants  withdrew,  and  the  gentlemen  sat  over  their 
wine;  yet  Lady  Mabel,  not  trained  to  a  nice  observ 
ance  of  little  conventionalities,  lingered  there,  watch 
ing  her  father's  moody  brow. 

"So  L'Isle  has  got  back,"  said  Major  Conway. 

"The  impudent  coxcomb!"  exclaimed  Lord  Strath 
ern. 

Conway  started.  But  Lady  Mabel  started  as  if 
a  snake  had  bitten  her.  She  said  nothing,  however  ; 


THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  667 

perhaps  she  could  not  had  she  tried.    But  Conway  ex 
claimed  :  "  My  lord,  perhaps  I  did  not  hear  you  rightly." 

"  You  did  Major  Conway.  I  say  that  L'Isle  is  an 
impudent  coxcomb.  The  most  presumptuous  fellow 
I  know.  I  will  find  or  make  an  occasion  to  give  him 
a  lesson  he  much  needs." 

"  Why,  my  lord,  what  has  L'Isle  done  ?"  asked  the 
Major. 

"  Done  !"  said  Lord  Strathern  angrily.  "  He  has 
said  a  great  deal  more  than  I  will  tolerate."  And, 
having  broached  the  subject,  he  told  the  story  of 
L'Isle's  interview  with  himself,  and  his  remarks  to 
Bradshawe,  pronouncing  his  whole  conduct  presump 
tuous  and  impertinent.  Losing  his  temper  more  and 
more,  he  exclaimed  :  "  Sir  Eowland's  absurd  partiali 
ty  has  spoiled  the  fellow  utterly  !" 

"  Sir  Kowland  must  not  bear  all  the  blame,"  said 
Bradshawe,  interposing ;  then  added  slyly :  "  No 
wonder  L'Isle's  head  is  turned,  considering  who  all 
have  helped  to  spoil  him." 

"  So  they  have ;  and  you  have  spoiled  him  more 
than  any  one  else,"  exclaimed  Lord  Strathern  turning 
suddenly  on  Lady  Mabel.  "  I  hear  of  nobody  but 
Colonel  L'Isle.  This  Colonel  of  yours  has  been  grow 
ing  more  and  more  intolerable — 

"  My  Colonel,  papa  ?  I  assure  you  I  lay  no  claim 
to  him,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  hastily  disclaiming  all  in 
terest  in  poor  L'Isle. 

"  Why  do  you  have  him  so  much  about  you,  then, 
and  quote  him  so  often?" 


338  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

"  Why,  my  lord,"  said  Bradshawe,  again  interpos 
ing,  "  Lady  Mabel  cannot  but  see  and  hear  much  of 
L'Isle,  while  she  sees  so  much  of  Mrs.  Shortridge,  their 
mutual  friend." 

Lady  Mabel  was  truly  thankful  for  this  diversion. 
It  gave  her  one  moment  to  think,  and  that  was 
enough.  In  her  father's  present  mood,  L'Isle  could 
not  escape  gross  insult  at  their  next  meeting.  She 
felt  that  the  best  way  to  molify  his  anger  was  to  take 
up  his  quarrel  vigorously  herself.  So,  warming  herself 
into  a  lit  of  indignation  becoming  the  occasion,  she 
exclaimed  :  "  It  is  no  fault  of  mine  that  I  see  so  much 
of  Colonel  L'Isle.  Why  do  you  make  him  so  often 
your  guest  ?  As  Colonel  Bradshawe  says,  I  have  no 
lit  companion  here  but  Mrs.  Shortridge,  and  he  is  of 
ten  with  her.  As  to  his  presumption,  it  is  not  so  new 
to  me  as  you  suppose.  I  have  often  laughed  at  him 
for  his  vanity  in  thinking  that  nobody  can  do  any 
thing  as  well  as  himself.  I  have  had  to  check  him 
before  this  for  presuming  to  find  fault  with  your  man 
agement  of  the  brigade  ;  but  did  not  imagine  he 
would  have  the  impertinence  to  insinuate  to  your  face 
that  he  could  command  it  better  than  you  do." 

"  By  Jove  !"  exclaimed  Lord  Strathern,  "  indirectly, 
he  as  good  as  told  me  so." 

" So  it  seems,"  said  Lady  Mabel  indignantly.  "I 
am  your  daughter,  and  resent  such  boyish  imperti 
nence  more  even  than  you  do.  I  will  take  the  earli 
est  opportunity  to  express  to  him  my  opinion  on  that 
point  most  emphatically." 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  339 

Bradshawe  was  discreetly  silent,  drinking  in  every 
word.  He  did  not  actually  hate  L'Isle ;  he  liked 
Lady  Mabel  well ;  but  he  loved  the  mischief  a-brew- 
ing,  and  watched  her  game,  for  he  saw  plainly  that 
she  was  playing  one.  Conway  sat  wondering  what 
all  this  would  lead  to,  anxious,  yet  afraid,  to  say  a 
word  in  extenuation  of  poor  L'Isle's  offences. 

"  By  the  bye,"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel,  "  I  have 
promised  Mrs.  Shortridge  my  utmost  aid  in  entertain 
ing  her  guests  to-morrow  night;  and  the  better  to  en 
able  me  to  give  it,  Colonel  L'Isle  is  pledged  to  be  in 
constant  attendance  as  rny  interpreter.  I  must  write 
at  once,  and  let  him  know  that  I  shall  dispense  with 
his  services." 

"  Write  to  the  fellow  at  once,"  growled  Lord  Strath- 
ern,  "  and  do  not  let  him  misunderstand  the  tenor  of 
your  note." 

"  But  he  has  gone  to  Badajoz,"  said  Bradshawe. 
"  Still,  if  he  has  an  appointment  with  you,  Lady  Ma 
bel,  he  will  assuredly  be  back  in  time." 

u  But,  my  lord,"  said  Major  Con  way,  "  you  have  an 
order  for  him  to  attend  Sir  Rowland,  at  Alcantara  the 
morning  after,  so  that  he  would  have  to  give  up  the 
pleasure  of  waiting  on  Lady  Mabel  at  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge's,  even  though  she  did  not  discard  him  in  this 
summary  manner." 

"Then  Mabel  shall  summon  him  to  attend  her,  ac 
cording  to  promise,  in  spite  of  Sir  Rowland's  order  !" 
thundered  Lord  Strathern,  with  all  the  perverseness  of 
an  angry  man. 


340  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

"  But  suppose  he  pleads  Sir  Rowland's  order  in  ex 
cuse,"  urged  Conway. 

"  It  shall  not  serve  him.  Mabel  shall  treat  it  as  a 
fresh  piece  of  impertinence,  and  cut  him  forever." 

"  Suppose  he  attends  Lady  Mabel,  and  neglects  Sir 
Rowland  ?" 

"  Then  Sir  Rowland  shall  know  how  lightly  he 
holds  his  orders." 

"That  is  being  very  hard  upon  L'Isle,"  said  Con- 
way. 

"  Not  as  hard  as  he  deserves,"  said  Lord  Strath ern 
with  a  bitter  laugh. 

"  It  is  probably  very  important,"  urged  Conway, 
"  that  Sir  Rowland  should  know  at  once  the  real  state 
of  this  Andalusian  reserve.  Much  may  depend  upon 
it." 

"  Tut,"  said  Lord  Strathern  contemptuously.  "What 
matters  L'Isle's  being  able  to  tell  him  whether  or  not 
they  look  like  soldiers  ?  If  you  had  been  long  in 
Spain,  you  would  have  known  that  the  fighting  has 
to  be  done  by  us." 

UO  yes,"  said  Bradshawe.  "Whatever  they  may 
do  on  parade,  the  fighting  always  falls  to  our  lot." 

Lady  Mabel  had  listened  to  this  dialogue  with  in 
tense  interest,  and  no  little  confusion  of  mind.  She 
was  very  angry  with  L'Isle,  and  that  perhaps  made 
her  feel  how  important  he  had  become  to  her.  She 
was  not  quite  prepared  to  cut  his  acquaintance,  and 
turn  her  back  on  him  forever,  and  now  thought 
she  saw  her  way  through  the  difficulty. 


THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  You  are  driving  my  friend  L'Isle  to  the  wall," 
said  Major  Conway.  "  I  know  him  to  be  a  gallant 
man ;  but  however  painful  the  sacrifice  may  be  to 
him,  1  think  he  will  feel  compelled  to  waive  his  en 
gagement  with  Lady  Mabel,  and  wait  on  Sir  Rowland 
Hill." 

"  Let  him,  if  he  dare,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  with  an 
emphatic  stamp  of  her  foot. 

"  I  applaud  your  spirit,  Lady  Mabel,"  said  Brad- 
shawe  mischievously.  "  It  is  lucky  tbi  L'Isle  that  the 
Stewarts  of  Strathern  are  not  now  represented  by  a 
son.  As  it  is,  L'Isle  will  have  to  make  his  submission 
with  the  best  grace  he  can." 

"  I  trust  Lady  Mabel  will  accept  it  in  some  other 
shape  than  slighting  Sir  Rowland's  order,"  said  Con- 
way.  "  L'Isle  will  not  do  that." 

"That,  and  nothing  else,"  said  Lady  Mabel  reso 
lutely — almost  angrily.  "  I  hold  myself  to  be  quite 
as  good  as  Sir  Rowland,  and  the  first  appointment 
was  with  me." 

"  Sir  Rowland  will  have  to  yield  precedence  to 
you,  Lady  Mabel,"  said  Bradshawe.  "  If  L'Isle  knows 
the  penalty,  he  will  have  to  attend  on  you." 

"  Begging  Lady  Mabel's  pardon,"  said  Conway, 
"  L'Isle  will  do  no  such  thing." 

"  Conway,"  said  Lord  Strathern,  with  a  sneer,  "  this 
punctilious  friend  of  yours  is  very  exacting — toward 
other  people.  But  I  will  bet  you  fifty  guineas  that 
he  keeps  Sir  Rowland  waiting  for  news  of  a  batch  of 
ragamuffins  not  worth  hearing  about." 


342  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

"  My  funds  are  rather  low  just  now,"  said  Conway, 
"  to  hazard  fifty  guineas  on  a  bet." 

"  I  thought  you  would  not  back  him  but  in  words," 
said  Lord  Strathern,  in  a  contemptuous  tone. 

"Nay,"  said  Conway,  stung  by  his  manner,  "I 
know  that  where  duty  is  concerned,  L'Isle  is  a  punc 
tilious  man.  To  obey  every  order  to  the  letter  and 
the  second,  is  a  point  of  honor  with  him,  and  I  will 
risk  my  money  upon  him." 

"  Done,"  said  Lord  Strathern  ;  "  and  now,  Mabel, 
use  your  wits  to  keep  the  fellow  here,  and  make  a 
fool  of  him ;  and  I  will  expose  and  laugh  at  him,  as 
he  deserves,  at  Alcantara." 

"  But  this  is  a  regular  plot  against  poor  L'Isle,"  ob 
jected  Conway. 

"Plot  or  no  plot,  it  is  understood  that  you  give 
him  no  hint,"  said  Lord  Strathern. 

"  Certainly  not,"  exclaimed  Bradshawe,  rubbing 
his  hands  together.  "  Con  way,  you  must  not  blab." 

"  i  suppose  I  must  not,"  said  Conway,  with  a  very 
grave  face,  chiefly  for  L'Isle,  but  partly  for  his  fifty 
guineas.  "  But  this  is  a  serious  matter.  It  may  be  of 
vital  importance  for  Sir  Rowland  to  know  at  once  if 
the  Andalusian  reserve  " — 

'"The  Andalusian  reserve,"  said  Lord  Strathern, 
interrupting  him,  "  will  never  let  themselves  be  food 
for  powder." 

Lady  Mabel  now  slipped  out  of  the  room,  to  hide 
her  confusion  and  anxiety ;  and  Major  Conway,  find 
ing  my  lord  not  in  a  mood  to  please  or  be  pleased, 


THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE.  343 

soon  took  leave,  followed  by  Bradshawe-in  high  glee, 
though  he  suppressed  the  outward  signs  of  it  until  he 
had  turned  his  back  upon  the  hospitable  mansion. 


344  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

"  Here  on  the  clear,  cold  Ezla's  breezy  side, 
My  hand  amidst  her  ringlets  wont  to  rove ; 
She  proffered  now  the  lock,  and  now  denied — 
With  all  the  baby  playfulness  of  love. 

* 

"  Here  the  false  maid,  with  many  an  artful  tear, 
Made  me  each  rising  thought  of  doubt  discover ; 
And  vowed  and  wept  till  hope  had  ceased  to  fear — 
Ah  me  I  beguiling,  like  a  child,  her  lover." 

SOUTIIEY,  from  the  Spanish. 

Lord  Strathern's  anger  was  not  unlike  a  thunder 
storm,  violent  and  loud,  but  not  very  lasting.  It  had 
spent  its  worst  fury  last  night ;  but  Lady  Mabel  still 
heard  the  occasional  rumbling  of  the  thunder  in  the 
morning,  while  seated,  with  her  father,  at  an  unusu 
ally  early  breakfast ;  for  he  had  before  him  no  short 
day's  journey  over  the  rough  country  between  Elvas 
and  Alcantara.  Sleep  may  have  dulled  the  edge  of 
his  anger  against  L'Isle,  but  he  had  not  yet  forgotten 
or  forgiven  him.  As  he  kissed  his  daughter  before 
he  mounted  his  horse — for  she  had  followed  him  into 
the  court — he  said  :  "  Do  not  forget  that  fellow  L'Isle, 
Mabel ;  keep  him  here,  and  make  a  fool  of  him,  and 
I  will  expose  and  laugh  at  him  to-morrow  in  Alcan 
tara." 

Now,  Lady  Mabel  had  forgotten  neither  L'Isle,  nor 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  345 

liis  offences.  She  was  indignant  at  his  piusuinptuous 
censure  of  her  father,  as  unjust  and  disrespectful  to 
him,  and  showing  too  little  consideration  for  herself. 
In  short,  it  was,  as  Colonel  Bradshawe  had  insinuated, 
an  indignity  to  the  whole  house  of  Stewart  of  Strath- 
ern.  It  must  be  resented.  Yet  she  could  not  resolve 
to  turn  her  back  upon  him,  and  discard  him  alto 
gether,  as  she  was  pledged  to  do,  as  one  alternative. 
She  thought  it  a  far  fitter  punishment  to  compel  him 
to  keep  his  appointment  with  her,  and  make  Sir  Row 
land  wait,  fretting  and  fuming  for  the  intelligence 
he  longed  for,  and  which  L'Isle  alone  could  give  him. 
She  reveled  in  the  idea  of  making  L'Isle  turn  his 
back  on  military  duty  to  obey  her  behest: 

"  How  she  would  make  him  fawn,  and  beg  and  seek, 
And  wait  the  season  and  observe  the  times, 
And  spend  his  prodigal  wit  in  bootless  rhymes." 

But  then  L'Isle  was  so  punctilious  on  points  of 
duty,  and  Major  Conway  had  been  so  confident  that 
she  could  not  detain  him  in  Elvas,  that  she  begun  to 
doubt  it  herself,  and  resolved  to  spare  no  pains  to  gain 
her  end.  So  she  at  once  sat  down  and  penned  an 
artful  note ;  then  calling  for  her  fine  footman,  dis 
patched  him  with  it  to  L'Isle's  quarters,  after  school 
ing  him  well  that  he  was  to  give  it  to  the  colonel's 
own  man,  with  strict  injunctions  to  put  it  in  his  mas 
ters  hand  on  his  return — if  possible — before  his  foot 
was  out  of  the  stirrup  ;  certainly  >  before  he  got  any 
other  letter  awaiting  him. 
15 


46  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

Meanwhile,  L'Isle  was  zealously  fulfilling  his  mis 
sion  at  Badajoz.  lie  had  made  such  good  speed  the 
evening  before,  that  though  the  sun  had  set  on  him  in 
Elvas,  some  lingering  rays  of  twilight  still  fell  on  the 
round  Moorish  tower  of  white  marble,  on  either  hand, 
as  he  entered  the  bridge-gate  of  Badajoz. 

~No  sooner  had  he  alighted  at  the  posada,  than  he 
wrote  a  note,  and  sent  it  to  the  governor  of  the  place, 
saying,  that  having  just  come  back  from  Andalusia, 
whither  he  had  been  sent  on  an  important  mission  by 
Sir  Rowland  Hill,  and  not  doubting  that  the  Spanish 
dignitary  would  be  glad  of  news  from  that  province, 
he  would  wait  on  him  at  breakfast  next  morning. 
This  done,  and  learning  that  many  of  the  Spanish  offi 
cers  were  to  be  found  at  another  posada,  he  hastened 
thither,  soon  meeting  acquaintances — and  making 
more — among  them.  He  knew  well  how  to  approach 
the  Spaniard,  mingling  the  utmost  consideration  with 
his  frank  address,  and  taking  pains  to  make  himself 
agreeable,  even  to  that  puppy,  Don  Alonso  Melendez, 
whom  he  found  among  them.  Many  of  them  were 
at  cards,  and  the  dice  were  not  idle.  L'Isle  soon 
found  a  place  among  the  gamesters,  and  took  care  to 
lose  a  few  pieces  to  more  than  one  of  his  new  friends; 
a  thing  easily  done,  they  being  in  high  practice,  and 
he  little  skilled  in  these  arts.  Having  thus  made 
himself  one  of  them,  he,  like  a  true  Englishman,  set 
to  drinking,  contrived  to  get  about  him  some  of  the 
graver  and  less  busy  of  the  gentlemen  present,  and, 
while  discussing  with  them  the  best  wine  the  house 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  347 

afforded,  he  adroitly  turned  the  conversation  to  the 
topics  on  which  he  sought  information.  He  did  not 
go  to  bed,  at  a  late  hour,  without  having  learned  much 
as  to  the  garrison  of  Badajoz,  and  of  the  few  precau 
tions  taken  for  the  safety  of  this  important  fortress. 

Early  in  the  morning,  L'Isle  called  on  the  governor, 
and  found  him  in  his  dressing-gown,  just  ready  for  his 
chocolate.  The  Don  was  well  pleased  to  hear  L'Isle's 
account  of  the  force  coming  up  from  Andalusia,  of  his 
interviews  with  officers  high  in  command  in  it,  and 
his  comments  on  the  spirit,  activity,  arid  endurance  of 
the  Spanish  soldier.  This  led  to  further  conversation, 
in  which  L'Isle,  while  sipping  chocolate  with  the 
Spaniard,  took  occasion  to  abuse  the  French  roundly, 
which  was  agreeable  enough  to  his  host;  but  he  quite 
won  his  heart  by  the  unfeigned  contempt  and  abhor 
rence  he  expressed  for  the  Afrancesados. 

L'Isle  soon  found  that,  in  spite  of  his  unsoldierly 
undress,  the  Don  was  a  sturdy  old  fellow,  who  chafed 
at  being  shut  up  in  a  garrison,  surrounded  by  defen 
sive  walls  and  moats.  He  longed  to  take  the  field 
and  become  the  assailant. 

"  I  trust  we  will  all  be  in  the  field  shortly,"  said 
L'Isle,  echoing  his  sentiment.  "  But  we  have  wily 
foes  to  deal  with.  All  their  great  successes  have  been 
won  by  surprise,  aided  by  traitors  among  us.  They 
are  now  evidently  anxious  to  anticipate  us,  and  if  we 
delay  long,  there  is  no  knowing  where  the  first  blow 
may  fall.  I  wonder,"  said  he,  with  a  puzzled  look, 
"  why  they  keep  so  large  a  force  at  Trujillo,  and  have 


348  'THE   ACTKESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

such  strong  detachments  foraging  on  this  side  the 
mountains  of  Toledo?  A  few  marches  may  unite 
them  near  us." 

"  Do  you  suppose  that  they  are  thinking  of  Bada- 
joz  ?"  asked  the  Spaniard,  looking  as  if  L'Isle  had 
seized  him  by  the  shoulders,  and  roughly  waked 
him  up. 

"  Marshal  Soult  has  an  eye  this  way,  and  would 
give  more  than  his  little  finger  to  have  it  again,"  said 
L'Isle;  "for  nothing  would  cramp  our  movements 
more  than  the  loss  of  it.  They  have  now,  indeed, 
little  chance  of  success,  we  know,"  he  added,  bowing 
to  the  governor,  "  but  may  think  it  worth  trying. 
Their  leaders  think  nothing  of  risking  the  loss  of  a 
thousand  men  or  so,  on  the  slenderest  chance  of  a 
great  prize.  The  conscription  fills  up  all  these  gaps." 

"  No  doubt ;  no  doubt.  But  we  will  watch  the 
rascals  closely,"  said  the  governor. 

"  I  dare  say,"  said  L'Isle  laughing,  "  you  have  a 
spy  or  two  in  Trujillo,  besides  the  lynx-eyed,  keen- 
eared  scouts  you  keep  on  the  roads,  and  in  the  villages 
around  you." 

"  We  get  intelligence — we  get  intelligence,"  said, 
the  Spaniard  evasively.     "  But  as  the  French  are  now 
moving,  it  wTill  be  well  to  bestir  ourselves,  to  find  out 
what  they  are  at." 

These,  and  other  hints,  that  L'Isle  threw  out — not 
as  advice,  but  inquiries  and  chance  suggestions,  being 
mingled  with  deferential  attention  to  all  the  Spaniard 
had  to  say — neither  startled  his  vanity,  nor  chafed  his 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  349 

pride.  lie  was  pleased  with  L'Isle,  talked  frankly 
to  him,  and  presented  him  ceremoniously  to  his  officers, 
who  now  began  to  wait  upon  him.  When  L'Isle  was 
about  to  take  his  leave,  he  urged  him  to  return  to 
dinner,  and  charged  a  favorite  officer  to  show  L'Isle 
everything  he  wished  to  see  in  Badajos,  that  he  might 
be  enabled  to  report  the  condition  of  this  stronghold 
to  Sir  Rowland  Hill. 

"  I  must  communicate  with  Sir  Rowland  so  speed 
ily,"  said  L'Isle,  "  that  I  must  be  content  with  the 
pleasure  of  having  breakfasted  with  your  Excellency  ;" 
and  with  marked  respect  he  took  leave  of  the  governor 
and  his  suite,  having  been  treated — in  diplomatic 
phrase — with  "  distinguished  consideration."  Indeed, 
had  Sir  Rowland  seen  and  heard- him  during  his  audi 
ence,  he  would  have  patted  him  on  the  back,  and 
thanked  his  stars  for  giving  him  so  able  and  adroit  an 
ambassador.  Were  it  possible  to  become  wise  by  the 
wisdom  of  another,  Badajos  would  have  had  a  watch 
ful  governor.  Prolonged  watching  is  no  easy  task, 
but  L'Isle  knew  that  if  the  Spaniard  could  be  roused 
to  a  week  of  vigilance,  the  urgent  need  of  it  would  be 
over. 

He  spent  an  industrious  morning,  making  himself 
agreeable  to  his  companion,  while  inspecting  the  re 
sources  of  the  place,  and  the  day  was  well  worn  away 
when  his  guide  and  escort  took  leave  of  him  at  the 
posada.  His  business  here  finished,  he  wished  to 
leave  Badajoz  at  once;  and  on  looking  for  his  groom, 
found  him  ensconced  in  the  kitchen,  providently  din- 


350  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

ing  on  a  rabbit,  stuffed  with  olives,  and  draining  a 
bottle  of  wine,  baptized  Valdepenas — addressing  the 
landlord's  tawny  daughter  with  a  flattering  air,  and 
smacking  his  lips  approvingly,  after  each  mouthful, 
whether  solid  or  fluid,  while  he  abused  both  food  and 
wine  in  emphatic  English,  throwing  in  many  back 
handed  compliments  to  the  lady's  beauty,  and  she 
stood  simpering  by,  construing  his  words  by  his  man 
ner. 

On  seeing  his  master  enter  hastily,  Tom,  who  had 
laid  in  all  the  wine,  and  most  of  the  food  set  before 
him,  got  up  respectfully  to  receive  his  orders ;  while 
with  a  full  mouth  he  mumbled  out :  "  Prayer  and 
provender  hinder  no  man's  journey." 

u  You  abridge  tliQ  proverb  in  practice,"  said  L'Isle, 
"  leaving  out  the  prayer  to  gain  time  to  take  care  of 
the  provender."  Then  sitting  down  at  the  table,  lie 
took  out  a  paper  and  began  to  note  down  what  he 
had  observed  in  Badajoz.  "  There  is  nothing  very 
tempting  here,"  said  he  presently,  glancing  his  eye 
over  Tom's  scanty  leavings,  "  but  a  luncheon  will  not 
be  amiss ;  so  I  will  take  what  I  can  find,  while  you 
saddle  the  horses." 

It  was  late  in  the  day  when  L'Isle  left  Badajoz  ;  but 
instead  of  posting  back  to  Elvas,  as  he  had  come  from 
it,  he  rode  slowly  on,  somatimes  lost  in  thought,  at 
times  gazing  on  the  scene  around  him.  Many  objects 
along  the  road  brought  vividly  back  to  him  the  inci 
dents  of  that  pleasant  excursion,  so  lately  taken  in 
company  with  Lady  Mabel.  Here  she  had  turned  her 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  351 

horse  aside  for  a  moment,  to  pluck  some  blossoms 
from  this  carob-tree,  which  stands  alone  on  the  sandy 
plain  around  it ;  here,  on  the  bank  of  the  Cayo,  was 
the  spot  where  she  had  pressed  so  close  up  beside  him 
for  protection,  in  the  dark,  on  the  first  alarm  of  dan 
ger  before  them ;  there  stood  the  old  watch-tower, 
which  they  had  examined  together  with  interest,  spec 
ulating  on  its  history,  lost  in  by-gone  ages  ;  crossing 
the  stream  here,  further  on,  were  the  prints  of  her 
horses  hoofs  on  the  steep,  pebbly  bank,  as  she  had 
turned  suddenly  from  the  road,  to  ride  up  to  the  mys 
terious  old  ruin. 

Were  these  pleasant  days  over?  L'Isle  knew  that 
Lord  Strathern  had  taken  violent,  perhaps  lasting  of 
fence  at  his  strictures  ;  and  he  himself  was  too  indig 
nant  at  the  summary  way  in  which  his  commander 
had  cut  short  his  protest,  and  dismissed  him  and  the 
subject,  for  him  to  make  any  conciliatory  advances. 
Knowing,  too,  Lady  Mabel's  devotion  to  her  father, 
and  her  tenacity  where  his  character  and  dignity  were 
concerned,  there  was  no  saying  how  much  she  might 
resent  L'Isle's  offence,  when  it  came  to  her  knowledge. 
He  could  hardly,  just  now  at  least,  frequent  head 
quarters  on  his  former  footing. 

He  was  so  much  engrossed  by  these  unpleasant 
thoughts,  that  it  was  in  vain  officious  Tom  several 
times  rode  up  close  upon  him,  making  his  own  horse 
curvet  and  caper,  hoping  to  attract  his  master's  atten 
tion,  and  remind  him  that  he  was  loitering  on  the 
road  long  after  his  dinner  hour.  L'Isle  went  on  at  a 


352  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

foot-pace  up  the  hill  of  Elvas,  until,  from  a  neighbor 
ing  hedge,  a  nightingale,  for  whose  ditty  the  hours  of 
darkness  were  too  short,  began  his  plaintive  song. 
Many  a  time  had  L'Isle  paused  to  listen  to  such  min- 
strelsey  ;  but  now  his  ear,  or  something  else,  was  out 
of  tune : 

"  Except  I  be  with  Silvia  in  the  night, 
There  is  no  music  in  the  nightingale." 

Rousing  himself,  he  cantered  through  the  gate,  and 
hastened  to  his  quarters. 

Now,  it  was  some  time  since  L'Isle's  servants  had 
picked  up  the  notion,  that  in  no  way  could  they  please 
him  half  so  well  as  by  obeying  the  slightest  hint  from 
Lady  Mabel.  So  his  man  came  promptly  out,  armed 
with  her  note,  and  thrust  it  into  his  hand  before  he 
had  left  the  saddle.  Entering  his  quarters  hastily,  he 
broke  it  open,  and  read  it  with  infinite  satisfaction. 

(Lady  Mabel  Stewart  sends  her  compliments  to  Col. 
L'Isle.  She  has  a  presentment  that  her  pleasant  so 
journ  in  Elvas  draws  to  its  end.  Like  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge,  she  is  ambitious  to  leave  among  her  Portu 
guese  friends,  the  most  favorable  recollection  of  her 
self.  So  to-night  she  will  spare  no  pains,  but  will 
dress,  look,  sing  and  act  her  best,  and  be  as  agreeable 
as  she  can  to  the  natives  at  Mrs.  Shortridge's  house. 
She  relies,  confidently,  on  Col.  L'Isle's  attending  her 
as  interpreter,  and  saying  a  thousand  witty  and  pleas 
ant  things  in  her  name.  This,  too,  may  be  her  last 
opportunity  of  thanking  him  for  the  many,  many  de 
lightful  excursions  enjoyed  under  his  guidance  and 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  353 

protection.  She  may-  never  repeat,  but  can  never  for 
get  them  !) 

This  note  relieved  L'Isle  of  a  load  of  anxiety.  It 
was  plain  that  Lord  Strathern  had  gotten  over  his 
anger,  and  meant  to  have  no  quarrel  with  him;  or, 
more  gratifying  still,  would  not  have  the  whole  house 
of  Strathern  involved  in  it,  and  so  had  given  no  hint 
of  it  to  his  daughter.  It  was  too  the  first  note  he  had 
ever  received  from  Lady  Mabel,  and  sportive  as  its 
tone  was  in  the  beginning,  there  was  something  of 
feeling  and  even  sadness  in  its  close.  L'Isle  well 
knew,  while  Lady  Mabel  had  only  chosen  to  assume 
it,  that  the  time  for  leaving  Elvas  was  indeed  at  hand. 
Yet  a  few  days,  and  a  few  things  were  more  uncertain 
than  his  again  meeting  Lady  Mabel  on  this  side  of 
the  grave. 

A  few  golden  hours  had  yet  to  fleet  by.  Who  would 
throw  away  a  happiness  because  it  is  fleeting  ?  L'Isle 
had  sunk  into  a  delightful  reverie,  anticipating  the 
pleasures  of  the  evening,  when  his  man  of  method 
laid  before  him  the  despatch  from  his  other  corres 
pondent,  Sir  Rowland  Hill. 

He  read  it  hastily,  and  angrily  threw  it  on  th^  floor. 
He  thought  himself  an  ill-used  man  !  "  Be  in  Alcan 
tara  by  ten  to-morrow  !"  I  will  do  no  such  thinw  f 
•*  & 

I  have  been  in  the  saddle  for  weeks.  My  horses  are 
worn  out,"  (he  chose  to  forget  a  fresh  horse  in  the 
stable.)  "  Up  late  last  night  and  worried  all  day  about 
aifairs  over  which  I  have  no  control,  and  fellows  who 
will  fail  us  at  need.  Sir  Rowland  must  wait  till  dinner 
15* 


354  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

time  to-morrow  for  news  of  these  dilatory  Spaniards. 
If  he  has  to  deal  much  more  with  them,  it  will  be  a 
useful  lesson  to  learn  to  wait." 

He  now  went  to  his  chamber  to  dress  in  order  to 
attend  Lady  Mabel.  When  he  returned  to  his  parlor, 
seeing  Sir  Rowland's  insulted  despatch  still  lying  on 
the  floor,  he  condescended  to  pick  it  up  and  stow  it 
away  in  his  pocket  with  his  notes  on  the  state  of  the 
Andalusian  reserve  and  the  garrison  of  Badajoz,  and 
then  rode  oif  in  the  happiest  mood  to  head-quarters. 
But  when  he  dismounted  there,  his  conscience  pricked 
him.  An  ambitious  soldier,  zealous  in  the  cause  for 
which  he  fought,  he,  not  long  since,  would  have  felt 
one  moment's  forgetfulness,  or  the  slightest  neglect  of 
the  service,  to  be  treason  against  his  own  nature.  lie 
now  turned  back  from  the  door  to  bid  the  groom  leave 
his  own  horse  in  Elvas,  and  take  the  fresh  horse  on  to 
the  little  town  of  Albuquerque,  and  expect  him  at  the 
posada  there  before  the  dawn  of  day.  Having,  by  this 
provision  for  riding  post,  quieted  the  compunctious 
visitings  of  conscience,  he  entered  the  house. 

Lady  Mabel  kept  him  waiting  some  time,  purposely, 
for  delay  was  now  her  policy.  Soon,  however,  he 
heard  her  talking  in  the  next  room,  and  the  abrupt 
and  crabbed  tones  of  the  voice  which  answered  her, 
betrayed  Mood 5 e  in  one  of  his  objecting  and  protest 
ing  moods.  Lady  Mabel  was  giving  sundry  injunctions 
to  an  unwilling  agent.  At  length  the  old  Scotch 
grieve,  like  one  of  his  own  ill-conditioned  steers,  would 
neither  lead  nor  drive;  for  when  she  bid  him  to  put 


THE   ACTKESS   EST   HIGH   LIFE.  355 

the  clock  back  an  hour,  he  flatly  refused,  calling  it 
acting  a  He,  as  the  wily  Gibeonites  did  to  Joshua. 

"  Or  as  Jacob  and  Rebecca  did  to  blind  old  Isaac," 
Lady  Mabel  suggested  ;  but  even  the  example  of  the 
patriarch  could  not  move  him,  and  Lady  Mabel  had 
to  make  time  move  backward  with  her  own  hand. 

At  length  she  entered  the  room  radiant  with  beauty 
and  with  smiles,  for  Moodie's  obstinacy  had  not  ruffled 
her  in  the  least.  She  was  so  sorry  to  have  kept 
Colonel  L'Isle  waiting,  and  so  much  afraid  he  would 
have  to  wait  a  wrhile  longer,  as  the  old  Lisbon  coach 
and  the  mules,  with  their  harness,  were  not  put  to 
gether  so  speedily,  as  the  London  turn-out  of  a  fash 
ionable  lady.  "  I  am  to  blame,"  she  continued,  "  for 
not  having  looked  to  it  before,  for  Antonio  Lobo,  my 
impromptu  postillion,  is  less  skilled  in  the  manage 
ment  of  my  vehicle,  than  of  the  olive  trees  among 
which  he  has  lived  until  he  has  taken  the  color  of  their 
ripe  fruit." 

To  fill  up  the  time  she  now  asked  L'Isle's  opinion 
of  her  dress,  seeing  him  eye  it  with  some  surprise. 
Turning  gracefully  about  and  showing  it  off  to  him 
from  different  points  of  view,  she  told  him  that,  as  a 
last  compliment  to  her  Elvas  friends,  she  had,  for  once, 
adopted  their  costume. 

"  Improved  upon  it,  rather,"  said  L'Isle,  for  she  had 
not  closely  followed  the  local  costume  where  it  did 
not  please  her.  Then  running  on,  from  one  lively 
topic  to  another,  she  amused  L'Isle  so  successfully 
that  he  felt  it  to  be  an  interruption  when  the  footman 


856  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

came  in  to  say  that  the  coach  was  ready.     After  de 
positing  her  guitar  in  state,  on  a  pile  of  music,  on  the 
front  seat,  L'Isle  at  length  found  himself  beside  Lady 
Mabel   in  this  venerable  vehicle,  long  used  to  bear  a 
noble   burden,    having    belonged   to    a   Portuguese 
Marquis,  who  on  the  first  approach  of  Junot's  invad 
ing  horde,  had  run  oif  to  Brazil,  leaving  his  coach,  his 
estate,  his  country,  and  perhaps  his  honor  behind  him. 
Slow  and  dignified,  as  became  its  character,  was  its 
progress  up  the  hill  of  Elvas ;  for  one  pair  of  the  team 
of  mules  which  had  brought  it  from.  Lisbon,  had  re 
turned  to  their  duty  in  the  quartermaster's  depart 
ment,  and  their  comrades,  left  to  their  own  unaided 
efforts,  found  the  coach  almost  as  hard  to  handle  as  a 
nine-pounder.    But  in  the  dove-like,  billing  and  cooing 
humor  in  which  L'Isle  was,  time  flew  on  the  wings  of 
the   carrier-pigeon,  and  they   arrived   at  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge's  house  too  soon  for  him,  though  all  the  guests, 
but  themselves,  were  there  already.     Two  or   three 
score  of  Portuguese,  most  of  them  ladies,  and  nearly  • 
as  many  English  officers  filled  the  rooms. 

Some  of  these  gentlemen  looked  surprised  at  seeing 
L'Isle,  thinking  he  had  already  left  Elvas.  Lieutenant 
Goring,  who  was  showing  off  his  tall  lithe  person  and 
dragoon  uniform  to  the  best  advantage,  beside  his  short 
and  sturdy  friend,  Captain  Hatton,  seemed  annoyed  at 
L' Isle's  presence,  and  Hatton  shared  his  feelings. 
L'Isle  stood  in  the  way  of  their  paying  court  to  Lady 
Mabel,  and  Goring,  at  least,  had  reckoned  on  his  ab 
sence. 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  357 

"  I  had  hoped,"  said  he,  "  that  we  were  rid  of  the 
Colonel  for  once.     He  is  an  abominable  monopolist." 
"  lie  is  so,"  said  Hatton,"  for  Lady  Mabel's  smiles 
belong  to  the  brigade." 

u  And  the  light  dragoons  quartered  with  it,"  inter 
jected  Goring.  "  But  here  he  is,  basking  in  the  sun 
shine,  and  keeping  us  shivering  in  the  shade,  when 
he  ought  to  be  on  the  road  to  Alcantara.  Sir  Rowland 
is  expecting  him.  Major  Conway  seemed  quite  an 
xious  that  he  should  be  there  betimes  in  the  morning, 
and,  doubtless,  had  some  good  reason  for  it. 

"Why  do  you  not  give  him  a  hint?"  asked  Hatton, 
perhaps  he  has  forgotten  it." 

u  He  is  your  colonel,  and  the  hint  would  come 
better  from  you." 

"  Thank  you,  said  Hatton.  But  in  our  regiment,  it 
is  contrary  to  the  etiquette  to  hint  to  the  colonel  that 
he  is  neglecting  his  duty." 

"  But  it  seems,"  said  Goring,  "  that  the  rule  does 
not  apply  to  the  brigade.     The  major  tells  me  that 
L'Isle  has  freely  censured  my  lord's  remissness,  and 
urged  him  to  enforce  more  stringent  discipline." 
"  How  did  my  lord  take  it  ?" 

"  Like  a  slap  in  the  face,"  answered  Goring.  "  At 
least  he  treated  it  as  a  great  piece  of  presumption,  and 
L'Isle  was  thoroughly  angered  at  the  rough  answer  he 
got.  Indeed,  Conway  thinks  that  there  is  nothing  but 
ill  blood  between  them." 

"That  does  not  look  much  like  it,"  said  Hatton, 
glancing  at  Lady  Mabel,  with  L'Isle  at  her  elbow. 


358  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

4  Let  us  go  and  beat  about  the  bushes ;  we  may  start 
some  thing  worth  chasing  !" 

The  two  friends,  looking  like  a  greyhound  and  a 
bull-terrier  coupled  together,  proceeded  to  hunt  in 
couple,  by  thrusting  themselves  into  the  cluster  of 
gentlemen  around  Lady  Mabel.  Hatton,  with  a  little 
start  of  admiring  surprise,  praised  the  taste  displayed 
in  her  dress,  regretted  her  being  so  late  in  adopting 
it,  it  so  became  her.  He  looked  round,  appealing  to 
the  bystanders,  all  of  whom  assented  to  his  opinion, 
except  the  discriminating  Goring,  who  asserted  that  it 
was  not  the  costume  which  became  Lady  Mabel,  but 
Lady  Mabel  who  set  oft*  the  costume,  and  he  carried 
the  popular  voice  with  him.  "  No  head  looks  so  well 
under  a  Turk's  turban  as  a  Christian's,"  he  continued, 
"  and  no  native  could  show  off  the  national  dress  here 
like  a  genuine  English  beauty."  Lady  Mabel  had 
learned  to  listen  complacently  to  the  broadest  lan 
guage  of  admiration. 

There  were  handsome  women  present — for  Elvas 
could  boast  its  share  of  beaufy — but  none  to  rival  hers ; 
the  more  conspicuous,  too,  from  being  loveliness  of  a  dif 
ferent  type,  and  not  likely  to  be  overlooked  among  the 
dumpy  Portuguese  ladies,  few  indeed  of  whom  equaled 
her  in  height.  Lady  Mabel  would  have  been  110 
woman  had  she  not  enjoyed  the  admiration  she  ex 
cited  ;  but  she  remembered  the  business  of  the  ni^ht, 

O  " 

when  Goring,  bowing  to  L'Isle,  spoke  of  the  unex 
pected  pleasure  of  seeing  him  here. 

At   once  interrupting   him,  she  exclaimed:  "It  is 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  359 

probably  the  last  time  we  shall  have  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  our  friends  of  Elvas,  so  I  at  least  have  come 
to  devote  myself  exclusively  to  them.  Do,  Colonel 
L'Isle,  take  pity  on  a  dumb  woman,  and  lend  me  a 
Portuguese  tongue."  And  gliding  off  among  a  party 
of  the  natives  present,  she  entered  into  conversation 
with  them,  calling  continually  on  L'Isle  to  interlard 
her  complimentary  scraps  with  more  copious  and  bet 
ter  turned  periods. 

Mrs.  Shortridge,  too,  kept  her  interpreter,  the  com 
missary,  close  at  her  elbow,  and  the  quantity  of  un- 
current  Portuguese  she  made  him  utter  to  her  guests, 
in  the  course  of  the  night,  amounted  to  a  wholesale 
issue  of  the  counterfeit  coin  of  that  tongue.  From  the 
assiduity  of  both  ladies  in  courting  the  natives,  one 
might  have  thought  that  they  meant  to  settle  at 
Elvas,  or  that  they  were  rival  candidates  canvassing 
the  borough  for  votes. 

It  was  a  young  and  gay  party  assembled  here,  and 
Mrs.  Shortridge's  floor  was  soon  covered  with  dan 
cers.  In  private  houses  the  national  dances  are  often 
executed  in  a  modified  and  less  demonstrative  style, 
at  least  early  in  the  evening,  than  elsewhere.  Still 
the  dancing  in  Elvas  and  Badajoz  were  near  neigh 
bors  to  each  other.  But  a  change  had  come  over 
Mrs.  Shortridge,  and  now  she  made  no  protest,  and 
saw  little  impropriety  in  displays  which  she  had  de 
nounced  a  few  days  ago.  Fashion  is  the  religion  of 
half  the  world  ;  the  mode  makes  the  morals,  and 
what  it  sanctions  cannot  be  wrong.  The  commissary, 


360  THE   ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

not  so  easy  a  convert,  sneeringly  remarked  that  the 
exhibition  was  very  suitable  to  ballet  dancers  and 
such  folk,  plainly  classing  most  of  his  guests  in  that 
category ;  while  Lady  Mabel,  with  bare-faced  hypoc 
risy,  glided  about  among  her  foreign  friends,  lament 
ing  that  her  English  clumsiness  cut  her  off  from  taking 
her  part  in  a  diversion,  and  in  the  displays  of  grace 
and  feeling,  which,  she  said,  with  double  meaning, 
were  unbecoming  any  but  women  of  the  Latin  races. 

The  night  was  hot,  and  dancing  made  it  hotter.  So 
Mrs.  Shortridge  called  upon  Lady  Mabel  to  fill  up 
the  interval  of  rest,  and  gratify  the  expectations  of 
their  friends  with  some  of  her  choicest  songs. 

But  yesterday  so  large  an  audience  would  have 
abashed  her ;  now  she  scarcely  saw  the  throng  around 
her  in  her  eagerness  to  gain  her  end  by  prolonging 
the  amusements  of  the  night.  She  sent  L'Isle  for  her 
guitar,  made  him  turn  over  her  music,  never  releasing 
him  for  a  moment,  while  she  sung  no  Italian,  French 
or  English  songs,  but  some  of  those  native  and  cher 
ished  requidillas,  the  airs  and  words  of  which  find 
here  so  ready  an  access  to  all  hearts ;  and  she  exe 
cuted  them  with  a  skill,  melody,  and  pathos,  that 
flattered  and  charmed  the  Portuguese.  The  guitar, 
though  the  cherished  friend  of  serenading  lovers  of 
the  old  Spanish  school,  was  truly  but  a  poor  accom 
paniment  to  such  a  voice ;  but  L'Isle  saw  that,  like 
the  harp,  it  had  the  merit  of  displaying  to  advantage, 
the  roundest,  fairest,  and  most  beautifully  turned 
arms  he  had  ever  gazed  upon. 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  361 

The  dancers  were  again  upon  the  floor  ;  the  night 
sped  on,  and  Lady  Mabel  made  free  use  of  her  inter 
preter  in  ingratiating  herself  with  the  Portuguese. 
L'Isle,  true  to  his  pledge,  taxed  his  powers  to  the  ut 
most  to  be  witty  and  agreeable  in  her  name ;  at  times 
a  little  overdoing  his  part.  Thus,  at  supper,  when  an 
elaborate  compliment  to  Dona  Carlotta  Seguiera, 
drew  a  reply  as  if  it  had  originated  with  himself,  he 
stripped  it  of  part  of  its  merit  by  saying  that  he  was 
merely  the  mouth-piece  of  Lady  Mabel's  sentiments. 
When  Dona  Carlotta  expressed  her  surprise  that 
Lady  Mabel's  short  English  sentence  should  make  so 
long  a  speech  in  Portuguese,  he  explained  it  by  Lady 
Mabel's  peculiar  faculty  of  uttering  a  volume  in  three 
words. 

Supper  and  the  dance  that  followed  were  over  ;  Mrs. 
Shortridge's  great  night  drew  to  a  close ;  and  many  of 
the  company  asked  for  one  more  melody  from  the 
sweet  songstress  before  they  dispersed.  While  turn 
ing  over  her  music,  Lady  Mabel  seemed  to  hesitate  in 
her  choice,  and  L'Isle  thought  that  her  hand  trembled 
as  she  selected  a  sheet. 

As  the  fruit  of  his  musical  gleanings  in  the  penin 
sula,  Major  Lumley  had  lately  sent  her  a  parcel  of 
old  Spanish  songs,  among  which  she  had  found  a 
little  piece,  a  mere  fragment,  but  exquisitely  touching 
in  melody  and  sentiment.  Her  father  had  been  much 
taken  with  it,  but  no  one  else  had  heard  it  from  her 
lips.  Like  a  volatile  perfume,  that  escapes  in  the  at 
tempt  to  pour  it  from  one  vessel  to  another,  such 


362  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

things  defy  translation.  How,  too,  Lady  Mabel  gave 
it  vocal  life,  may  be  imagined,  not  described.  She 
sang  it  with  a  truthfulness  of  feeling  that  seemed  to 
grow  with  each  succeeding  line.  For  the  mere  words, 
we  can  only  find  this  slender  version  for  the  English 
ear: 

In  joyous  hall,  now  thronged  with  young  and  fair, 
Your  roving  eye  marks  every  beauty  here ; 
I  harbor  not  one  doubt  or  jealous  fear ; 
Constant  your  heart ;  it  beats  for  me  alone. 

In  woodland  glade,  when  armed  for  sylvan  war, 
You  mark  the  antlered  monarch  from  afar, 
Your  sportive  toil  cannot  my  pleasure  mar; 
Constant  yonr  heart;  it  beats  for  me  alone. 

In  summer  night,  gazing  on  starry  sky, 
And  on  yon  radiant  queen,  who  rides  on  high, 
Your  fancy  seems  to  roam,  yet  hovers  nigh ; 
Constant  your  heart ;  it  beats  for  me  alone. 

But  hark !  yon  trump !  you  start  as  from  a  dream ; 
From  your  bright  eyes  the  warrior  flashes  gleam ; 
All  else  forgotten.     War  is  now  your  theme  ; 
Constant  my  heart ;  it  beats  for  you  alone. 

'Midst  charging  hosts,  the  foremost  rank  is  thine ; 
In  saddened  bower,  the  thrilling  fear  is  mine ; 
You  glow  with  ardor,  I  in  sorrow  pine  ; 
Constant  my  heart ;  it  beats  for  you  alone. 

Could  L'Isle's  vanity  be  beguiling  him?  The  tre 
mor  of  her  voice,  her  saddened  troubled  look,  the 
beaming  glances  of  her  ejTes,  which  hovered  about 
him,  yet  shunned  to  meet  his  gaze — they  all  betrayed 
her.  She  was,  perhaps  half  consciously,  identifying 


THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  363 

him  with  the  object  of  the  song.  Her  audience  were 
delighted,  but  L'Isle  was  entranced,  and  no  longer  a 
responsible  man. 

The  guests  were  now  fast  leaving  the  house,  and 
Lady  Mabel,  having  much  to  say  to  Mrs.  Shortridge, 
was  among  the  last.  L'Isle  attended  her  down  stairs, 
and  was  about  to  hand  her  into  the  old  coach,  when 
she  drew  back  timidly. 

"  How  dark  it  is,  with  that  cloud  over  the  moon. 
I  am  afraid  Antonio  Lobo  is  scarce  postillion  enough 
to  drive  down  that  steep  rough  road  without  accident." 

L'Isle  instantly  recollected,  that  having  escorted 
Lady  Mabel  to  the  party,  it  was  his  privilege  to  see 
her  safe  home  again.  Bidding  the  footman  keep  the 
coach  door  open,  he  sprang  into  the  house  for  his  hat, 
and  in  a  moment  was  again  seated  by  her  side.  The 
lumbering  vehicle  rolled  out  of  the  praca  and  down 
the  sloping  street  to  the  western  gate  of  Elvas.  As 
the  guard  there  closed  the  gate  behind  them,  and  shut 
them  out  from  the  light  of  the  lantern,  they  seemed 
to  plunge  into  "  outer  darkness."  Lady  Mabel's  ner 
vous  terrors  came  back  upon  her  with  redoubled  vio 
lence. 

The  fosse  under  the  drawbridge  seemed  a  ravenous 
abyss,  and  the  deep  road  cut  through  the  glacis  and 
overhung  by  the  outworks  appeared  to  be  leading 
down  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  The  road,  too, 
down  into  the  valley  was  steep,  winding  and  much 
cut  up  by  use  and  the  heavy  winter  rains. 

"  I  have  been  so  much  on  horseback  lately,"  she 


364:  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

said,  apologizing  for  her  fears,  "  and  so  seldom  in  a 
carriage,  and  this  is  such  a  rickety  old  thing,  that  you 
must  excuse  my  alarm.  Besides,  I  do  not  know  that 
Antonio  ever  played  the  part  of  postillion  before. 
"Why,  the  coach  will  run  over  the  mules,"  she  ex 
claimed  presently,  as  it  glided  down  a  steep  spot ; 
then  springing  up  and  leaning  out  of  the  window,  she 
called  out  in  plaintive  Portuguese,  "  Antonio,  my 
good  Antonio,  beware  of  that  short  turn  in  the  road, 
or  we  will  all  go  tumbling  down  the  hill  together ! 
Excuse  my  terrors,  Colonel  L'Isle,  but  some  late  oc 
currences  have  shaken  my  nerves  sadly." 

Surprised  at  her  unusual  timidity,  L'Isle  tried  to 
calm  her  fears,  and  taking  her  hand,  endeavored  to 
keep  it,  while  he  assured  her  that  every  Portuguese 
peasant  was  familiar  with  mules  and  mountain  roads 
from  boyhood.  With  a  little  laugh,  she,  struggling, 
rescued  the  captured  member,  saying,  "I  shall  need 
both  my  hands  to  scramble  out  with  when  the  coach 
breaks  down  or  overturns,  whichever  happens  first," 
and  after  this  she  was  more  chary  of  her  demonstra 
tions  of  terror,  to  escape  his  demonstrations  of  protec 
tion. 

"  If  you  doubt  honest  Lobo's  ability  to  drive  you 
safe  home,"  said  L'Isle,  "  though  I  do  not,  perhaps 
your  own  man  may  be  more  skilful." 

"  What !  cut  down  my  two  yards  of  footman  into  a 
postillion  ?"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel ;  "  on  a  mule,  too! 
Why,  he  would  rebel  against  such  degradation  !" 

"  It  would  be  promotion,"  said  L'Isle,  laughing,  "  to 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH  LIFE.  365 

put  a  footman  into  the  saddle ;  and  William  would  be 
of  use  for  once  in  his  life." 

"  Neither  I  nor  nature  demand  usefulness  of  him. 
His  whole  capital  consists  in  being  a  tall  footman, 
who  becomes  his  livery  ;  and  he  fulfills  his  destiny 
when  both  he  and  it  excite  the  admiration  of  the  El- 
vas  ladies." 

The  coach  presently  turned  into  the  olive  yard,  and 
drew  up  before  the  old  monastic  pile  without  accident. 
L'Isle  was  surprised  to  see  the  inhabited  part  of  the 
building  brightly  lighted  up  at  this  late  hour.  Old 
Moodie,  looking  graver  and  more  sour  than  ever,  was 
at  the  open  door.  L'Isle  handed  Lady  Mabel  out  of 
the  coach,  and  she  coolly  took  his  arm,  showing  that 
he  was  expected  to  hand  her  up  stairs,  before  taking 
leave  of  her.  Moodie  followed  them  into  the  draw 
ing-room,  and  said  abruptly,  "  Well,  my  lady,  will 
you  have  supper  now  ?" 

"  Certainly,  if  it  be  ready.  By-the-bye,  Colonel 
L'Tsle,  I  did  not  see  you.  take  the  least  refreshment  at 
Mrs.  Shortridge's — not  even  half  a  pound  of  sugar 
plums,  like  the  Portuguese  ladies." 

"  I  followed  your  example  ;  for  you  yourself  fasted." 

"  I  was  too  busy  talking  my  best  and  my  last  to  my 
Portuguese  friends,"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  But  when 
and  where  did  you  dine  ?" 

"  Dine  ?"  said  L'Isle,  hesitating,  then  recollecting 
his  luncheon  ;  "  about  two  o'clock,  in  Badajoz." 

"  A  Spanish  dinner,  I'll  warrant,  at  a  Spaniard's 
house!"  she  exclaimed,  throwing  up  her  hands. 


366  THE  ACTKESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

"  You  must  be  faint  with  hunger.  Why,"  she  added, 
taking  np  a  light,  and  holding  it  close  to  him,  "you 
do  look  pale  and  famished  ;  as  if  you  had  dined  like  a 
Portuguese  beggar's  brat, — on  a  crust,  rubbed  over 
with  a  sardinha,  to  give  it  a  flavor.  I  cannot  let  you 
go  away  in  this  condition.  If  you  starve  yourself  so, 
you  will  degenerate  from  a  beef-eating  red-coat,  into 
a  rationless  Spanish  soldier." 

"  There  is  no  danger  of  that,"  L'Isle  answered. 
"  But  how  do  you  happen  to  have  a  supper  ready  at 
this  hour?" 

"  It  shows  what  a  slave  of  habit  Moodie  is.  Be 
cause  he  has  a  supper  got  for  papa  and  his  friends 
every  night,  he  could  not  omit  it ;  though  papa  is  far 
away,  and  he  knows  that  I  never  touch  it.  But  here 
he  comes  to  announce  it.  For  once  it  is  well  timed, 
and  you  must  do  it  justice,  unless  you  would  make 
both  Moodie  and  myself  your  enemies  for  life." 

"Supper  is  ready,  my  lady,"  said  Moodie.  Then 
grumbled  aside  to  her,  "  If  you  wait  awhile  longer  it 
will  serve  for  breakfast." 

"  Pray  send  Jenny  to  me  ;  and  then,  Moodie,  I  will 
not  keep  you  up  longer,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  for  she 
was  anxious  to  get  rid  of  the  old  marplot. 

They  went  into  the  next  room  to  supper,  and  she 
seated  L'Isle  sociably  beside  her.  It  was  truly  a 
tempting  little  supper  party,  without  one  too  many  at 
table.  Lady  Mabel  had  now  been  long  enough  in  the 
army  to  feel  at  home  there.  Why  should  she  not, 
like  any  of  her  comrades,  bring  home  a  friend  to  sup 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  367 

with  her?  Especially  when  that  friend  is  the  pleas- 
antest  fellow  in  the  brigade  ?  Having  or  aifecting  an 
appetite,  she  set  the  example  to  L'Isle,  and  urged  him 
to  make  up  for  the  meagre  fare  of  the  day.  The  ta 
ble  looked  as  if  Lord  Strathern  and  three  or  four  of 
his  friends  had  been  expected  to  take  their  seats  at  it ; 
and  when  she  bid  the  footman  hand  wine  to  Colonel 
L'Isle,  he  promptly  placed  three  ^decanters  on  the 
table. 

"  William  mistakes  me  for  Colonel  Brahshawe," 
said  L'Isle  smiling,  as  he  glanced  at  them. 

"That  is  Moodie's  doing,"  said  she.  "  He  provides 
liberally,  one  bottle  for  you,  and  two  for  himself,  I 
suppose." 

Jenny  Aiken  now  came  into  the  room,  very  neatly 
dressed,  and,  evidently  not  at  all  surprised  at  her 
mistress's  summons.  Upon  this  Lady  Mabel  bid  Wil 
liam  go,  as  he  would  not  be  wanted." 

"I  have  not  a  doubt,  Colonel  L'Isle,  that  you  prefer 
a  Hebe  to  a  Ganymede." 

" Infinitely,"  said  L'Isle;  "  and  I  only  wonder  how 
great  Jove  himself  could  differ  with  me." 

"Then  let  Jenny  refill  your  glass,  that  you  may 
drink  the  health  of  the  Portuguese  ladies,  to  whom 
you  said  so  many  witty  and  pleasant  things  this 
evening. 

"  I  only  translated  them,"  said  L'Isle,  bowing  gaily 
to  her. 

"  May  I  be  ever  blessed  with  such  an  interpreter," 
said  Lady  Mabel,  "  and  I  may,  without  fear,  set  up  for 


368  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

a  wit."  And  she  repeated  some  of  the  best  things  he 
had  said  in  her  name,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  them  so 
much,  that  L'Isle,  who,  like  some  other  people,  had 

"  A  heart 
Open  as  day  to  melting  flattery, " 

became  almost  as  much  charmed  with  himself  as  he 
was  with  his  companion.  Thus  they  amused  them 
selves,  recalling  the  little  incidents  of  the  evening ; 
Lady  Mabel  turning  satirist,  at  the  cost  of  all  her 
friends,  not  sparing  even  Mrs.  Shortridge,  in  her  at 
tempts  to  play  the  Rome  hostess,  and  ridiculing,  with 
out  mercy,  the  commissary's  awkward  efforts  at  Por 
tuguese  eloquence  and  politeness.  Then  recalling  and 
laughing  at  the  extravagant  compliments  paid  her 
after  each  song,  she  sung  snatches  of  several  of  her 
favorite  pieces,  but  had  the  grace  not  to  allude  to 
4  Constant  my  Heart ;'  while  L'Isle  longed  for  an  oc 
casion,  yet  hesitated  to  tell  her  how  much  better  he 
liked  it  than  all  the  others.  In  the  midst  of  her  ex 
travagantly  high  spirits,  checking  herself  suddenly, 
she  said  :  "  I  see  that  you  are  surprised  at  me,  but 
not  more  than  I  am  at  myself.  Have  you  ever  heard 
of  our  Scottish  superstition  of  being  fie — that  is,  pos 
sessed  by  a  preternatural  excess  of  vivacity  ?  No  ?  It 
is  deemed  the  sure  forerunner  of  evil  at  hand, — a  sud 
den  and  violent  death  ;  some  dire  misfortune;  perhaps 
a  sad  and  final  parting  of — of  the  dearest  friends.  I 
own,"  she  added,  with  a  deep  sigh,  "  I  cannot  free 
myself  from  this  superstition  of  the  country." 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  369 

"  I  will  not  share  it  with  you  !"  L'Isle  exclaimed. 
"  And  you  must  shake  it  off.  What  .were  life  without 
hope,  and  .high  hope  too  !"  and  seizing  her  hand  he 
kissed  it  respectfully  but  with  a  fervor  which  indic 
ated  the  direction  his  hopes  had  taken. 

"  For  shame,  Colonel  L'Isle  !"  she  exclaimed,  laugh 
ing,  while  she  snatched  her  hand  away.  "See  how 
much  shocked  Jenny  is  at  this  liberty  taken  with  her 
mistress!" 

L'Isle  had  forgotten  Jenny  Aiken's  presence.  He 
turned  to  look  at  her,  and  the  Scotch  Hebe  was  plain 
ly  more  amused  than  shocked  at  what  she  was  wit 
nessing.  Had  L'Isle  forgotten  also  his  appointment 
to-morrow  morning  at  Alcantara  ?  Perhaps  not.  But 
had  Sir  Rowland  Hill  now  appeared  and  demanded 
his  opinion  of  the  Andalusian  levies,  L'Isle  would 
have  told  him  that  he  had  no  leisure  to  think  of  him 
or  them. 

But  all  sublunary  pleasure  has  an  end.  Supper 
was  over,  and  L'Isle  could  devise  no  excuse  for  linger 
ing  here,  but  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  Lady  Mabel, 
who  seemed  willing  to  amuse  him  as  long  as  he  staid. 
After  a  pause,  divining  that  he  was  about  to  take 
leave  of  her,  she  said  suddenly :  "  What  an  unreason 
able  fellow  Sir  Rowland  Hill  must  be !  Because  he 
cannot  find  any  one  to  execute  his  delicate  commis 
sions  half  so  well  as  you  do,  he  must  be  thrusting  them 
all  upon  you  !  Does  he  take  you  for  a  Popish  saint, 
endowed  with  pluripresence,  and  able  to  be  in  Anda- 
16 


3  TO  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

lusia,  at  Badajoz,  Elvas,  ana  Alcantara,  all  at  one 
time?" 

"Kot  exactly  so,"  said  L'Isle,  a  good  deal  flattered 
at  this  speech.  lie  has  indeed  tasked  me  well,  at 
times  doing  other  men's  work  ;  but  it  is  all  in  a  good 
cause,  you  know ;  and  I  never  objected  to  these  tasks 

till  now My  Lord,  I  hear,  set  out  for  Alcantara 

early   this  morning,  taking  Bradshawe  and  Con  way 
with  him." 

"Yes!  they  rode  merrily  off  this  morning,"  said 
Lady  Mabel  iii  a  gay  tone.  u  A  summons  to  Alcan 
tara  breaks  the  monotony  of  their  life  here,  and  they 
were  eager  to  meet  Sir  Rowland.  I  hear  that  these 
conferences  writh  his  officers  always  conclude  with  a 
capital  dinner.  That  sallow  Major  Con  way,  with  his 
fastidious  appetite,  and  his  Calcutta  liver,  will  ap 
preciate  the  excellence  of  the  cuisine.  I  have  heard 
Col  en  el  Bradshawe  dilate,  with  enthusiasm,  on  Sir 
Rowland's  choice  selection  of  wines.  Papa,  too,  will 
meet  some  new  people  there,  which  will  give  him  an 
opportunity  of  once  more  undergoing  his  three  years 
of  siege,  famine,  and  bombardment  in  Gibraltar  thirty 
years  ago,  and  of  uttering  a  new  edition  to  the  ex 
pedition  to  Egypt,  in  which  he  will  again  put  Sir 
Ralph  Abercmmby  to  a  glorious  death  in  the  arms 
of  victory.  They  tell  me,  Sir  Rowland,  too,  dearly 
loves  these  occasions  for  repeating  his  favorite  lecture 
on  strategy  and  grand  tactics.  But  you  must  have 
heard  it  so  often,  that  yon  .can  repeat  it  verbatim  to 
me,  if  you  have  nothing  more  entertaining  to  say." 


THE   ACTRESS   IN    HIGH   LIFE.  371 

"  I  hope  I  could  find  topics  more  agreeable  to  us 
both,"  said  L'isle,  laughing  and  blushing.  "  But  un 
luckily  I  have  in  my  pocket  Sir  Rowland's  order  to 
meet  him  there,  and  have  intelligence  he  is  waiting 
for.  I  am  afraid  he  will  have  to  wait." 

"I  am  afraid,  he  will,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  coolly,  "  for 
I  do  not  see  how  you  are  to  get  out  of  the  house  now. 
By  this  time  Moodie  has  bolted,  barred,  and  locked 
every  door  and  window  below,  hidden  the  keys,  and 
gone  to  bed  in  his  usual  condition.  He  never  can  find 
them  again,  until  his  head  gets  clear  in  the  morning." 

"Wiiat!"  exclaimed  L'isle,  "  that  respectable  old 
man  drunk  every  night!" 

"Not  every  night!"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "  But  have 
you  forgotten  in  what  condition  he  came  back  with  us 
from  Evora?" 

"True.  But  I  thought  that  an  accident,  and  more 
the  effect  of  sickness  than  drinking.  He  seemed  quite 
sober  when  3-011  came  home,  and  a  graver  and  more 
sedate  man  I  do  not  know." 

"  O,  he  is  a  Presbyterian,  3-011  know,  and  the  more 
liquor  he  swallows  the  graver  and  more  sanctimonious 
lie  becomes." 

"  That  may  be.  Still  Lady  Mabel,  I  must  find  some 
wa3^  of  getting  out  of  the  house.  Already  I  shall  be 
too  late  at  Alcantara." 

"  I  am  afraid  Sir  Rowland  will  not  drink  in  3^0111- 
news  at  breakfast.  But  if  it  be  good,  it  will  come  in 
capitally  after  dinner,  by  way  of  dessert." 

"  After  dinner !"  said  L'isle  hurriedly.  "  I  must  be 
there  many  hours  before  that !" 


372  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

"Then  I  am  sorry  to  have  kept  you  here  so  long.  I 
suppose  Jenny  and  I  must  keep  watch  by  ourselves 
all  night,  for  I  cannot  keep  those  heavy-headed  fellows 
awake." 

"  Awake  and  watching !"  exclaimed  L'Isle. 

"  Yes — awake  and  watching,"  Lady  Mabel  an 
swered.  "  If  you  could  stay  we  would  not  insist  on 
your  sitting  up  with  us.  I  could  have  Papa's  room 
made  ready  for  you ;  and  if  I  knew  that  you  were 
asleep  in  Papa's  bed,  with  your  drawn  sword  on  one 
side,  and  a  pair  of  his  pistols,  cocked,  on  the  other,  I 
would  not  be  in  the  least  afraid." 

"  Afraid  of  what  ?"  asked  L'Isle  in  astonishment. 

"  Of  these  robbers,  who  go  plundering  and  murder, 
ing  all  over  the  country  by  night !"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
her  large  blue  eyes  opening  wide  in  well-feigned  terror. 

"Oh,  don't  talk  of  them,  my  lady!"  said  Jenny, 
with  a  stifled  scream,  and  an  affected  shudder. 

"  Have  you  not  heard  of  them  ?"  Lady  Mabel  asked 
in  a  tone  of  surprise. 

"  I  cannot  say  I  have — at  least  of  any  depredations 
here  at  Elvas." 

"  But  we  are  outside  of  Elvas — to  our  sorrow  ;  and 
the  monks,  great  engineers  as  they  have  elsewhere 
proved  themselves,  have  constructed  but  a  very  weak 
fortress  in  this  building.  Our  garrison  is  weaker  still. 
Papa  carried  off  his  two  most  efficient  servants.  Wil 
liam  is  a  simpleton,  Tomkins  a  craven,  and  Moodie, 
though  bold  as  a  lion,  is  an  old  man,  already  bound 
hand  and  foot,  and  gagged  by  his  strong  enemy." 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  373 

"  But  where  is  the  Portuguese  part  of  your  house 
hold  ?"  L'Isle  asked. 

"Being  thieves  in  a  small  way,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"  we  always,  at  night,  lock  them  out  of  this  part  of 
the  building.  While  the  robbers  were  cutting  our 
throats  up-stairs,  they  might  be  stealing  our  silver  be 
low.  We  have  an  anxious  time  here,  I  assure  you. 
It  is  as  much  as  I  can  do  to  keep  poor  Jenny  from 
going  off  into  hysterics;  she  will  not  go  to  bed  lest 
she  should  be  robbed  and  murdered  in  her  sleep.  It 
is  lucky  that  I,  being  a  soldier's  daughter,  have  a  lit 
tle  courage." 

"  Courage  !"  exclaimed  L'Isle,  "  I  am  astonished  at 
your  sudden  timidity.  Why,  there  is  a  sentinel  day 
and  night  here  at  headquarters." 

"But  out  of  sight  and  hearing  at  the  other  end  of 
this  old  rambling  monk's  roost,"  said  Lady  Mabel, 
"mounting  guard  over  papa's  musty  despatches." 

"  And  the  fellow  now  there,"  said  Jenny,  "  told  me 
he  could  not  quit  them — no,  not  if  we  were  robbed 
and  murdered  twice  over.  I  could  scream  now,  only 
that  I'm  afraid  the  villains  might  hear  me!" 

While  L'Isle  looked  suspiciously  at  the  rnaid,  not 
so  good  an  actress  as  her  mistress,  Lady  Mabel  glanced 
her  eye  at  the  clock.  Apparent  time  called  it  one, 
real  time  said  it  was  two  hours  after  midnight.  She 
felt  sure  of  her  game,  and  need  wear  the  mask  no 
longer.  She  had  been  acting  a  long  and  trying  part, 
and  began  to  feel  tired,  and  now  showed  it  by  letting 


374  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

her  terror  subside  into  one  or  two  little  yawns,  which 
became  her  so  well,  that  L'Isle  never  thought  her 
more  lovely  than  now  when  she  was  getting  tired  of 
his  company. 

It  was  high  time  to  get  rid  of  him.  But  now  a  real 
fear  come  over  her,  and  she  shrunk  from  his  searching 
glance  with  unfeigned  timidity.  Still  the  thing  had 
to  be  done  ;  so  nerving  herself  to  the  task,  she  stepped 
close  up  beside  him,  and  looking  confidingly  in  his 
face,  said  :  "  I  am  truly  sorry  to  have  kept  you  here 
so  long,  and  hope  you  will  not  find  Sir  Rowland  fret 
ting  and  fuming  at  the  delay  of  your  news ;  but  I  was 
so  anxious  to  have  your  protection,  having  just  learned 
that  these  horrid  ruffians  are  not  gumllcros  from  the 
Spanish  band  at  Badajoz,  but  some  of  your  own  regi 
ment  disguised  as  banditti." 

L'Isle  started  back  one  step.  In  an  instant,  from 
the  fairy  land  of  hope  and  love,  his  Eden  of  delights, 
with  every  soothing  and  intoxicating  influence  around 
him,  he  found  himself  transported  to  a  bleak  common, 
stripped  of  his  dreamy  joys,  exposed  to  the  ridicule  of 
the  enchantress,  and  soon  to  be  pelted  with  the  piti 
less  jests  of  all  who  might  hear  of  his  adventure.  lie 
looked  at  Lady  Mabel,  almost  expecting  to  see  her 
undergo  some  magic  transformation.  But  there  she 
stood  unchanged,  except  that  there  was  a  little  sneer 
on  her  lip,  a  glance  of  triumph  from  her  eye,  an  ex 
pression  of  intense  but  mischievous  enjoyment  in  her. 
whole  air,  and,  what  he  had  never  observed  before,  a 
strong  likeness  to  her  father. 


THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE.  375 

Striving  quickly  and  proudly  to  recover  himself, 
L'Isle  said,  with  admirable  gravity,  "  You  have  con 
vinced  me,  Lady  Mabel,  that  it  is  my  especial  duty  to 
protect  you  from  my  own  banditti.  I  will  not  leave 
you,  not  close  an  eye  in  sleep,  while  a  shadow  of  dan 
ger  hangs  over  you.  But,"  he  added,  slowly  drawing 
near  to  a  window,  and  gently  opening  it,  "I  have  ob 
served  that  house-breakers  always  choose  the  darkest 
hours  to  hide  their  deeds  of  darkness.  For  to-night 
the  danger  is  over.  The  moon  is  overhead,  and  not  a 
cloud  obscures  the  sky.  WQ  English  may  envy  these 
Southern  nations  their  nights,  though  not  their  days." 
Haifa  dozen  nightingales  were  now  pouring  out  their 
rival  melodies  in  the  grove.  Looking  out  on  the  land 
scape  before  him,  its  features  softened  rather  than  con 
cealed  by  the  sober  silvery  light,  he  repeated  : 

"  How  sweet  the  moonlight  sleeps  on  yonder  bank, 
*     *     *     *     in  such  a  uight  as  this, 
When  the  sweet  wind  did  gently  kiss  the  trees, 
And  they  did  make  no  noise — in  such  a  night 
Troilus,  methinks,  mounte  ..  the  Trojan  walls, 
And  sighed  his  soul  toward  the  Grecian  tents, 
Where  Cressid  lay  that  night." 

While  repeating  these  lines,  he  measured  with  his 
eye  the  distance  to  the  ground.  The  comfort-loving 
monks  had  provided  lofty  ceilings  and  abundant  air 
for  their  apartments  under  the  scorching  sun  of  Alein- 
tejo.  But  in  L'Isle's  angry,  defiant  mood,  he  would 
have  leapt  from  the  top  of  Pompey's  Pillar,  rather  than 
stay  to  be  laughed  at  by  Lady  Mabel.  Seating  him- 


376  THE  ACTEESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

self  on  the  window-sill,  he  turned  and  threw  his  legs 
out  of  the  window. 

"  For  Heaven's  sake,  Colonel  L'Isle,  what  are  you 
dreaming  of?" 

"  I  am  dreaming  that,  happy  as  Ulysses,  I  have  lis 
tened  to  the  Syren,  and  escaped  her  snares." 

She  had  sprang  forward  as  he  spoke,  and  now 
threw  out  her  arms  to  draw  him  back.  He  eluded 
her  clasp,  and  dropped  to  the  ground  on  his  feet,  but 
fell  backward,  and  did  not  at  once  rise  again.  She 
shrieked,  and  then  called  out  in  a  piteous  tone: 
"Speak  to  me,  Colonel  L'Isle.  For  Heaven's  sake, 
speak.  Say  you  are  not  injured — not  hurt." 

"  Console  yourself,  Lady  Mabel,"  said  he,  rising 
slowly.  "I  have  not  broken  my  neck,  and  shall  not 
break  my  appointment.  And,  now,  I  must  bid  you 
good-night;  or  shall  I  say  good-morning?" 

As  L'Isle  turned,  he  spied  old  Moodie  standing  in 
the  open  gateway  of  the  court,  with  a  light  in  his 
hand,  and  knitting  his  shaggy  brows.  He  looked 
neither  very  drunk,  nor  much  afraid  of  robbers,  but 
trembled  with  rage  on  seeing  L'Isle's  mode  of  break 
ing  out  of  the  mansion.  With  a  strong  effort  of  self- 
control,  L'Isle  walked  off  without  limping,  and  was 
goon  lost  in  the  gloomy  shades  of  the  olive  and  the 
orange  grove. 

Lady  Mabel  had  played  out  the  comedy,  and  now 
came — reflection.  What  had  she  done?  How  would 
it  tell  ?  Above  all,  what  would  L'Isle  think  of  her? 
What  were  his  feelings  now?  And  what  would  they 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  377 

be  when  the  exact  truth — the  whole  plot — was  known 
to  him?  Every  faculty  hitherto  engrossed  in  the  part 
she  was  playing,  until  this  moment  she  had  never 
looked  on  this  side  of  the  picture?  Now,  bitter  self- 
reproach,  womanly  shame,  and  tears — vain,  useless 
tears — filled  up  the  remaining  hours  of  the  night. 
Jenny  Aiken's  feeble  attempts  at  consolation  were 
worse  than  futile,  and  she  was  sent  off  abruptly  to  her 
room  for  misconstruing  the  cause  of  her  mistress'  grief. 
Lady  Mabel  found  little  relief  in  remembering  her 
father's  injunction,  to  play  her  part  well,  and  not  fail 
of  success.  She  was  hardly  soothed  even  by  the  re 
solution  she  took  to  rate  that  father  soundly  for  the 
gross  impropriety  he  had  permitted,  induced — nay, 
almost  commanded — her  to  perpetrate. 
16* 


3 78  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

Don  Pedro. — By  this  light  he  changes  more  and  more.       I  think  he 
be  angry,  indeed. 

Glaudio. — If  he  be,  he  knows  how  to  turn  his  girdle. 
Benedict. — Shall  I  speak  a  word  in  your  ear  ? 
Claudio. — God  bless  me  from  a  challenge. 

MUCH  ADO  ABOUT  NOTHING. 

SIR  HOWLAND  HILL,  with  a  stout  division,  liad  been 
posted  during  the  winter  at  Coria,  facing  Marshal 
Soult  in  the  valley  of  the  Tagus — holding  him  to  hail 
not  to  disturb  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  British  army 
cantoned  along  the  frontier.  The  Marshal  had  now 
swallowed  or  pocketed  all  that  he  could  find  in  the 
rich,  but  hapless  vale  of  Plasencia,  and  of  late  had 
been  casting  hungry  glances  on  the  country  south  of 
the  river.  This  had  induced  Sir  Rowland  to  ride 
over  from  Coria  to  Alcantara,  to  look,  to  his  line  of 
communication  with  the  southern  provinces.  This 
old  city  had  been  long  sinking  into  decay  ;  the  French 
General,  Lapisse,  spent  one  night  in  it  four  years  ago  ; 
and  well  nigh  completed  the  work  which  time  had 
bui^mi.  Still  its  position  and  its  famous  bridge,  one 
arch  of  which  had  been  blown  up,  and  had  now  been 
hastily  repaired,  made  it  an  important  point  at  this 
time. 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  879 

In  a  Gothic  hall,  which  looked  as  if  it  had  not  long 
since  been  visited  by  the  Vandals,  but  which  had  of 
old  been  often  thronged  with  members  of  the  once 
chivalrous  order  of  Alcantara,  now  as  effete  in  knight 
hood  as  that  of  Malta  ;  a  military  secretary  was  writ 
ing  at  a  small  table,  at  the  dictation  of  Sir  Rowland 
Hill,  who  stood  near,  perchance,  as  good  a  knight  as 
ever  trod  that  floor.  Officers  came  in  to  him,  and 
were  sent  out  again  on  various  missions.  Lord  Strathern 
was  seated  by  a  larger  table  at  the  other  end  of  the 
room,  conversing  gaily  with  his  fellow-travelers  from 
Elvas,  and  waiting  Sir  Rowland's  leisure. 

Sir  Rowland  presently  looked  at  his  watch,  and 
raising  his  voice,  inquired — "  My  Lord,  has  L'Isle 
come  yet?" 

",Not  yet,"  Lord  Strathern  answered  with  a  smil 
ing  countenance,  while  Sir  Rowland's  expressed  disap 
pointment.  He  knew  that  the  commander-in-chief 
was  about  to  order  a  combination  of  simultaneous 
movements.  Every  part  of  the  allied  force  from  Gal- 
licia  to  Andalusia  had  its  task  allotted,  and  he  was 
anxious  to  know  how  far  the  Conde  di  AbupaUs  could 
be  relied  on. 

"  L'Isle  is  usually  before  his  time,"  said  Sir  Row 
land.  "  Do  you  think  he  got  my  order  yesterday  ?" 

"I  have  little  doubt  of  it,"  said  my  lord. 

"  But  I  doubt  his  being  here  soon,"  said  Bradshawe, 
dipping  in  his  oar  to  trouble  the  waters.  "  He  had  to 
go  last  night  to  a  concert  in  Elvas." 

"  A  concert  detain  him  !    I  do  not  understand  that." 


380  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"  Nor  I,  Sir  Rowland,"  said  Bradshawe.  coolly.  "I 
only  heard  it  without  pretending  to  understand  it." 

Sir  Rowland  looked  puzzled,  but  his  unfinished  dis 
patch  claimed  his  attention,  and  he  turned  again  to 
his  secretary. 

Meanwhile  Lord  Strathern  was  in  high  spirits. 
"The  hour  has  come,  but  not  the  man  !"  he  said,  and 
began  to  triumph  over  Conway,  and  laugh  at  L'Isle 
so  merrily,  that  he  w^ould  have  soon  found  it  in  his 
heart  to  forgive  the  latter  all  his  offensive  strictures 
on  him.  But,  suddenly,  his  merriment  gave  place  to 
a  look  of  surprise  and  disappointment.  Conway, 
turning  to  ascertain  the  cause,  saw  L'Isle  walk  into 
the  room  as  if  he  had  come  hither  at  his  leisure  ;  yet, 
something  in  his  bearing,  betrayed  that  his  pride  was 
in  arms. 

"I  am  glad  to  see  you,  L'Isle,"  said  Sir  Rowland. 
"I  were  loath  to  close  my  dispatch  without  adding 
the  intelligence  you  might  bring  me.  By  the  bye, 
some  of  these  gentlemen  thought  that  you  would  not 
be  here  so  soon." 

"  They  must  have  supposed  that  I  had  not  received 
your  order,  sir,"  said  L'Isle,  glancing  haughtily  round 
on  Lord  Strathern  ;  "  but,  having  got  it,  I  am  here." 

"  It  seems  to  have  cost  you  hard  riding  though,  and 
more  fatigue  than  you  are  yet  equal  to,"  said  Sir  Row 
land,  remembering  his  late  wounds.  "And  you  have 
had  a  fall,"  he  added,  observing  some  marks  on  his 
clothes. 

"Not   from    my  horse,"  said  L'Isle,  shortly   and 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  381 

somewhat  bitterly.  "  But  it  is  of  no  consequence," 
and  lie  hastened  to  produce  his  notes  and  furnish  Sir 
Rowland  with  the  information  expected  from  him. 

Besides  the  unerased  marks  of  a  fall,  L'Isle's  clothes 
were  travel-stained,  and  his  face  was  pale,  less,  per 
haps,  from  fatigue  and  loss  of  sleep,  than  from  the 
violent  excitement  and  revulsion  of  feelings  he  had 
lately  undergone.  But  he  soon  withdrew  Sir  Row 
land's  attention  from  himself  to  his  full  and  precise 
account  of  the  state  of  the  Andalusian  reserve,  and 
the  garrison  of  Badajoz. 

"I  am  glad  to  find  that  this  body  of  Spanish  troops 
are  not,  like  too  many  Spanish  armies,  men  of  straw, 
an  army  on  paper,"  said  Sir  Rowland.  "  The  French 
are  trying  to  occupy  so  extended  a  position  here  in 
Estremadura,  that  our  Andalusian  friends  may  do 
capital  service  in  harassing  their  out-posts,  and  cut 
ting  off  their  convoys." 

"  If  they  can  be  kept  out  of  the  plains,  and  induced 
not  to  fight,"  said  L'Isle,  smiling.  "  But  the  Spaniard 
is  always  seeking  to  surround  the  enemy,  and  force 
him  to  battle." 

"At  all  events,"  said  Sir  Rowland,  "I  can  now 
give  Lord  Wellington  a  definite  and  reliable  account 
of  their  condition  ;"  and,  making  a  sign  to  L'Isle  to 
accompany  him,  he  walked  across  the  room  and 
seated  himself  at  the  larger  table.  Here  he  held  a 
somewhat  prolonged  conference  with  Lord  Strathern, 
in  which  the  other  gentlemen  were,  at  times,  called 
upon  to  take  part.  When  compelled  to  speak,  L'Isle 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

distinguished  himself  by  giving  admirable  specimens 
of  the  lapidary  style,  not  one  spare  word.  Sir  How- 
land  had  many  questions  to  ask  and  instructions  to 
give  ;  but,  these  over,  he  gave  a  less  professional  turn 
to  the  conversation,  and  then  said :  "I  hope,  my  lord, 
you  and  these  gentlemen  will  share  my  poor  dinner 
to-day ;  but  remember,  1  am  not  at  home  in  Alcan 
tara,  and  cannot  feast  you,  as  yon  do  your  friends  at 
Elvas  ;  neither  can  we  sit  long  and  drink  deep,  as  I 
must  return  to-night  to  Coria." 

"  We  will  dine  with  you  with  pleasure,"  said  Lord 
Strathern.  "  Pray,  Bradshawe,  who  could  have  told 
Sir  Rowland  that  we  sit  long  and  drink  deep  at 
Elvas?" 

"  Some  thirsty  fellow,"  said  Bradshawe,  "  who  had 
drained  the  last  drop  from  his  last  bottle." 

"  Oh,  my  lord,"  said  Sir  Rowland,  laughing,  "  I 
meant  no  insinuation.  But  I  must  finish  my  des 
patch,"  and  he  returned  to  his  secretary. 

While  Lord  Strathern  and  his  companions  awaited 
Sir  Rowland's  leisure,  L'Isle  sat  moodily  apart,  turn 
ing  an  unsocial  shoulder  toward  his  lordship,  giving 
him  a  glimpse  of  his  back. 

Lord  Strathern  smiled;  he  saw  the  earth  stains,  and 
saw,  moreover,  evident  marks  of  anger  and  chagrin 
in  L' Isle's  demeanor.  His  curiosity  was  strongly 
excited,  and  he  resolved  to  make  the  silent  man  find 
his  tongue. 

"  Pray,  L'Isle  how  came  you  to  let  your  horse  slip 
from  under  you,  and  measure  your  length  in  the  road  ?" 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  883 

"You  are  mistaken,  my  lord,"  said  L'Isle,  formally  ; 
"  my  horse  did  not  throw  me." 

"  You  are  so  used  to  success  that  you  will  acknowl 
edge  no  failure,  not  even  a  fall  from  your  horse,  or 
your  hobby-horse.  Perhaps  you  got  tired,  and  took  a 
nap  by  the  roadside,  which  accounts  for  your  getting 
here  no  sooner. 

L'Isle  was  too  angry  to  trust  himself  with  an  an 
swer,  but  Major  Con  way,  turning  to  Bradshawe, 
said  gaily :  "  Colonel  L'Isle  is  here  soon  enough  for 
me;  he  is  within  the  time,  and  I  have  won  the  fifty 
guineas." 

L'Isle  started.  Here  was  a  revelation !  His  last 
night's  adventure  was  no  secret.  Thefe  were  more 
parties  to  the  plot  than  he  had  imagined. 

"  Sir  !"  said  he,  turning  upon  Con  way,  with  a  cold, 
hard  manner.  "Am  I  to  understand  that  you  have 
done  me  the  honor  to  bet  on  my  movements?" 

"Here  is  gratitude  for  yon,"  exclaimed  Conway, 
pacifically  appealing  to  his  companions,  and  his  voice 
attracted  Sir  Rowland's  attention.  "  Here  have  I 
been  showing  for  him  the  height  of  friendship,  haz 
arding  my  best  friends,  my  guineas,  on  his  infallible 
fulfillment  of  duty ;  and  my  full  faith  in  him  is  re 
ceived  as  an  outrage." 

"  I  suppose,  sir,"  said  L'Isle,  turning  on  Bradshawe, 
with  freezing  politeness,  "it  is  you  who  have  so 
obligingly  afforded  my  volunteer  backer  so  singular 
an  opportunity  of  proving  his  friendship?" 

"  I  cannot  claim  the  credit  of  it,"  answered  Brad- 


384:  THE  ACTRESS   IN"  HIGH  LIFE. 

shawe,  with  easy  urbanity.  "  I  am  not  even  a  stake 
holder  in  the  game ;  though,  as  a  mere  looker-on,  I 
confess  having  watched  it  with  keen  and  arid  growing 
interest."  And  with  a  little  wave  of  the  hand  he 
passed  L'Isle  gently  over  to  Lord  Strath ern. 

L'lsle  looked  from  the  imperturbable  colonel  to  the 
pacific  major,  who  professed  to  be  so  zealously  his 
partisan,  and  back  again  to  the  former.  Not  see 
ing  how  he  could  fasten  a  quarrel  on  either,  he  turned 
somewhat  reluctantly  on  Lord  Strathern,  who  com 
placently  awaited  him. 

"  As  for  you,  my  lord,  I  might  have  felt  surprise  at 
your  making  me  the  subject  of  such  a  bet,  but  it  is  lost 
in  astonishment  at  the  means  you  took  to  win  it !" 

"And,  after  all  to  lose  it,"  said  Lord  Strathern,  in  a 
mocking,  dolorous  tone.  "Is  it  not  provoking?" 

"No  scruple,"  continued  L'Isle,  "seems  to  have 
stood  in  your  way,  my  lord,  in  the  choice  of  either 
means  or  agent." 

"  On  the  contrary,"  said  Lord  Strathern,  blandly, 
"  I  always  scrupulously  choose  the  best  of  both." 

"  You  must  have  contrived  this  plot,"  L'Isle  per 
sisted,  "though  the  chief  actor  be  in  Elvas.  But 
I  will  say  no  more  here." 

"A  few  words  more,  I  pray,"  said  Lord  Strathern, 
smiling.  "  I  understood  that  you  were  to  have  been 
detained  in  Elvas.  How  the  devil  did  you  get  away  ?" 

L'Isle  turned  abruptly  away,  seeing  that  the  more 
anger  and  mortification  he  showed,  the  more  gratified 
Lord  Strathern  seemed  to  be.  .Rising  from  his  seat, 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  885 

he  walked  up  to  Sir  Rowland,  who  had  been  watch 
ing  him  with  much  curiosity,  and  said :  "  I  suppose, 
sir,  you  have  no  further  use  for  me  here.  If  so,  pray 
excuse  my  absence  from  your  table  to-day,  as  I  have 
occasion  to  return  at  once  to  Elvas." 

Sir  Kowland  bid  his  secretary  go  and  send  off  the 
despatch  at  once  ;  then  looking  fixedly  at  L'Isle,  said  : 
"  I  may  need  you  here  for  a  day  or  two." 

L'Isle  bit  his  lip  till  the  blood  came,  while  Sir  Row 
land,  stepping  over  to  Lord  Strathern,  asked  in  an  un 
dertone  :  "  What  is  the  matter  with  L'Isle,  my  lord  ? 
he  seems  strangely  out  of  humor." 

"  The  truth  is,  Sir  Rowland,"  said  his  lordship,  in  a 
confidential  tone,  "somebody  in  Elvas  has  been  quiz 
zing  L'Isle,  and  a  man  of  his  vanity  cannot  stand  be 
ing  quizzed." 

"Quizzed!"  said  Sir  Rowland.  "Does  quizzing 
make  a  man  mad  ?" 

L'Isle  dared  not  trust  himself  longer  in  Lord  Strath- 
ern's  company  ;  he  wanted  time  to  recover  his  self- 
command  ;  so  he  again  addressed  Sir  Rowland  :  "That 
I  left  Elvas  so  suddenly,  and  unprepared  for  a  pro 
longed  absence,  matters  little,  Sir  Rowland  ;  but  I 
have  been  so  little  with  my  regiment  of  late,  that — 

"  Let  your  major  take  care  of  it  a  few  days  longer," 
Sir  Rowland  answered,  in  a  positive  tone. 

"You  had  better  let  L'Isle  go,  Sir  Rowland,"  said 
Lord  Strathern.  "  He  is  afraid  to  lose  sight  of  his 
regiment,  lest  they  become  banditti." 

L'Isle's  flushed  cheek  and  compressed  lips,  showed 


386  THE  ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

that  he  felt  the  taunt,  while  Sir  Rowland  exclaimed, 
in  surprise:  "  Are  they  so  unruly?  Then  you  must 
look  to  them  yourself,  my  lord,  for  I  shall  keep 
Colonel  L'Isle  a  while  with  me.  The  truth  is,  L'Isle, 
I  divine  your  urgent  business  at  Elvas.  Some  one 
there  has  given  you  gross  offence,  and  you  seek  re 
venge  under  the  name  of  satisfaction.  There  is  al 
ways  sin  and  folly  enough  in  these  affairs  ;  but  here, 
within  sight  of  the  smoke  of  the  enemy's  camp,  and 
now,  when  we  are  about  to  fall  upon  them,  these  per 
sonal  feuds  are  criminal  madness.  I  would  put  you 
under  arrest,  sooner  than  let  you  post  off  to  Elvas  on 
so  bloodthirsty  an  errand." 

Sir  Rowland  uttered  this  speech  with  an  air  worthy 
of  his  Puritan  uncle,  of  Calvinistic  memory  ;  but,  in 
spite  of  the  respect  due  to  the  speaker,  it  was  too 
much  for  the  gravity  of  his  hearers.  Lord  Strathern 
and  his  companions  burst  into  a  roar  of  laughter,  and 
even  L'Isle,  amidst  all  his  anger,  felt  tempted  to  join 
them. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  Sir  Rowland,  in  grave  astonish 
ment,  "I  like  a  joke  as  well  as  any  of  you.  "Pray 
explain  this,  that  I  may  share  your  enjoyment." 

BradsUawe,  with  an  effort,  cut  short  his  laughter, 
to  say :  "  As  a  neutral  party,  Sir  Rowland,  I  will  bo 
Colonel  L' Isle's  surety,  that  in  whatever  mood  he  may 
set  out  for  Elvas,  as  soon  as  he  finds  himself  in  the  pre 
sence  of  his  enemy  there,  lie  will  be  gentle  as  a  lamb.'1 

"  You  deal  in  mysteries;  who  in  Elva&  is  so  safe 
from  L'Isle's  resentment?" 


THE   ACTKESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  387 

"  Nobody  but  Lady  Mabel  Stewart." 

"  Lady  Mabel  Stewart !"  exclaimed  Sir  Rowland, 
looking  at  Lord  Strath  em.  "  If  a  lady  contrived  this 
plot,  I  shall  never  unravel  it ;  so  you  must  do  it  for 
me." 

"  Perhaps  the  explanation,"  said  Bradshawe,  "  would 
come  more  gracefully  from  my  lord." 

"  If  I  knew  the  details  of  it,"  said  Lord  Strathern, 
interrupting  his  hearty  laughter,  for  he  seemed  re 
solved,  at  all  hazard,  to  recover  his  fifty  guineas,  in 
sport,  out  of  L'Isle.  "lean  tell  but  the  beginning; 
and  then,  Sir  Rowland,  you  can  squeeze  the  rest  out 
of  L'Isle  himself." 

"  By  all  means,"  said  Sir  Howland.  "  L'Isle,  take 
a  seat,  and  learn  to  stand  fire.  You.  must  not  dodge 
from  a  volley  of  laughter,  that  happens  to  be  aimed  at 
yourself." 

"L'Isle  reluctantly  sat  down,  while  Lord  Strathern 
said  :  "  Have  you  ever  discovered,  Sir  Rowland,  that 
L'Isle  is  a  monomaniac?" 

"No!     On  what  point?" 

"  Discipline  !  He  is  a  little  touched  here,"  said 
my  lord,  laying  his  finger  on  his  temple,  "  on  the  sub 
ject  of  discipline.  He  never  eats  heartily,  nor  sleeps 
quietly,  but  after  detecting  the  breach  of  a  dozen  of 
the  rules  and  regulations  made  for  the  government  of 
his  Majesty's  troops.  He  fancies  that  they  were  made 
expressly  to  afford  him  the  pleasure  of  detecting  the 
breach  of  them." 


388  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

"Is  this  disease  prevalent  in  your  brigade,  my 
lord?"  Sir  Rowland  inquired  in  a  sarcastic  tone. 

"  By  no  means ;  I  have  kept  it  down  ;  for  my 
method,  looking  to  the  spirit,  not  the  letter  of  the 
law,  discourages  it  greatly." 

"  I  have  seen  something  of  your  method,  my  lord," 
said  Sir  Rowland,  smiling ;  "  but  cannot  say  that  I 
have  mastered  its  peculiar  merits." 

"That  is  very  likely,"  said  Lord  Strathern,  com 
placently.  "  As  every  art  has  its  mysteries — so  each 
man  may  have  some  peculiar  gift  in  the  application 
of  his  art;  even  though  taught  by  the  same  master, 
no  two  men's  handwriting  are  exactly  alike;  so  each 
of  us  may  have  some  inimitable  peculiarity  in  his  sol 
diership.  It  is  certain  that  L'lsle,  not  understanding 
my  more  enlarged  and  liberal  system,  wished  to  force 
me  into  his  own  narrow  notions,  and  when  I  would 
not  yield  to  him,  he  intimated  to  me  that  1  was  train 
ing  up  banditti.  I  had  to  recommend  to  him  the 
study  of  one  of  the  articles  of  war,  which  he  had 
overlooked.  It  treats  of  subordination,  and  of  each 
man's  minding  his  own  business.  Neither  of  us  was 
very  successful  in  keeping  his  temper;  and,  indeed, 
being  a  good  deal  ruffled,  I  afterward  spoke  pretty 
freely  of  L'Isle's  conduct  to  these  gentlemen,  who 
dined  with  me.  Mabel  shared  my  feelings,  and,  with 
my  consent,  set  a  trap  for  him,  hoping  to  teach  him 
that  he  himself  might  be  caught  tripping.  How  he 
escaped  iu  time  to  get  here  you  must  learn  from  him 
self." 


THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE.  389 

"  Come,  L'Isle,  we  have  heard  the  prologue,"  said  Sir 
Rowland  ;  "  be  not  bashful,  but  give  us  the  comedy." 

What  was  L'Isle  to  do?  It  was  evidently  some 
thing  more  than  curiosity  that  made  Sir  Rowland  so 
earnest  to  sift  this  matter.  He  could  hardly  refuse 
all  explanation  to  him — and  he  felt  that  it  would 
never  do  to  give  an  account  of  Lady  Mabel's  behavior, 
to  himself,  as  he  had  construed  it.  Lord  Strathern, 
too,  did  not  exactly  know  what  he  was  urging  him  to 
do.  Suddenly  recollecting  Lady  Mabel's  note,  L'Isle 
drew  it  from  his  pocket,  and  handed  it  to  her  father, 
for  his  private  reading.  To  L'Isle's  astonishment, 
Lord  Strathern  read  it  out  with  great  gusto,  and  com 
mented  on  it. 

This  was  capital  bait  for  the  trap.  "  And  pray, 
Mr.  Interpreter,  how  did  you  and  your  principal  get 
through  the  evening?" 

u  You  see  the  dilemma,  Sir  Rowland,"  exclaimed 
Bradshawe,  with  srlee.  "  Here  was  a  conflict  of 

o 

duties.  Colonel  L'Isle  had  to  obey  two  commanders 
at  one  time,  which  Scripture  tells  us  is  difficult,  if  not 
impossible." 

u  L'Isle  seems  to  have  achieved  the  impossible," 
said  Sir  Rowland ;  "  for  I  know  you  are  too  gallant  a 
man,  L'Isle,  to  neglect  a  lady's  order  for  mine." 

Sir  Rowland's  manner,  though  not  his  words,  were 
urgent  for  an  explanation ;  and  L'Isle  being  now 
fairly  in  for  it,  with  an  effort,  gathered  his  wits  to 
gether,  and  opened  the  narrative  of  his  last  night's 
adventure.  He  recounted  Lady  Mabel's  successful 


oOO  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

efforts  to  amnse  and  occupy  him  into  a  forgetfulness 
of  the  flying  hours  ;  her  artful  delays  before  setting 
out;  their  slow  but  pleasant  drive  up  hill  to  Elvas; 
the  animated  and  well-sustained  part  she  had  played 
throughout  the  evening;  her  wit,  her  satire,  and  her 
singing,  and  his  labors  as  interpreter,  acknowledging 
many  foolish  things  of  his  own,  in  his  efforts  to  be 
witty  and  amusing  according  to  contract.  He  de 
scribed  her  well-feigned  fear  of  returning  home  in  the 
dark  without  an  escort,  the  brilliantly  lighted  house 
and  well-timed  supper,  at  which,  unconscious  of  the 
flight  of  time,  he  sat  listening  to  her  diverting  talk, 
including  her  piquant  sketch  of  Sir  Rowland's  glori 
ous  dinners  and  tactical  lectures,  and  the  value  his 
officers  set  on  each.  Here  |his  auditors  had  each 
an  opportunity  of  laughing  at  each  other,  and  being 
laughed  at  in  turn. 

L'Isle  strove  to  make  Lady  Mabel  appear  witty, 
amusing,  and  adroit;  he  gave  edge  to  her  satire — 
keenness  to  her  wit;  but  carefully  rounded  off  all  the 
more  salient  points  of  her  acting.  lie  said  nothing  of 
her  singing  "  Constant  my  heart,"  at  him.  He  did 
not  hint  at  his  taking  her  hand  in  the  coach,  or  kiss 
ing  it  at  the  supper  table  ;  but  dilated  on  her  skillful 
libel  on  old  Moodie's  sobriety,  and  her  well  acted 
dread  of  the  house-breaking  banditti,  from  whom  lie 
could  best  protect  her,  as  they  are  no  other  than  his 
own  men. 

Though  L'Isle  did  not  get  through  his  narrative 
with  the  best  possible  grace,  he  was  doubly  successful 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  391 

in  it;  at  once  greatly  amusing  his  auditors,  yet  ex 
hibiting  Lady  Mabel  only  as  a  witty  girl,  who  had 
merely  played  the  part  allotted  to  her  with  mis 
chievous  pleasure  and  consummate  tact.  But  he  at 
tained  this  at  the  cost  of  showing  himself  an  easy 
dupe  to  her  arts,  and  getting  well  laughed  at  for  his 
pains.  It  cost  L'Isle  no  small  effort  to  do  this.  It 
was,  in  fact,  a  heroic,  self-sacrificing  act ;  for  he  was 
not  used  to  being  laughed  at,  and  there  is  something 
highly  amusing  in  compelling  a  man  to  tell  a  story 
which  makes  him  more  and  more  ridiculous  at  every 
turn.  But  while  showing  so  much  consideration  for 
Lady  Mabel,  so  far  was  he  from  beginning  to  forgive 
her  ill-usage  of  him,  that  the  constraint  he  had  put 
upon  himself  only  embittered  his  feelings  toward  her. 

As  to  Lord  Strathern,  he  was  delighted  with  the 
account  of  ma  'belles  cunning  manoeuvres  and  witty 
speeches,  even  to  the  point  ot  laughing  heartily  at 
her  satire  on  himself;  and  he  reveled  in  L'Isle's  ill- 
concealed  mortification,  exclaiming:  "What  a  pity 
the  plot  failed  by  Mabel's  unmasking  too  soon.  That 
and  your  good  horse  enabled  you  to  keep  your  ap 
pointment  at  the  risk  of  your  neck.  Why,  L'Isle,  you 
might  have  become  a  ballad  hero.  Mabel  would 
have  put  your  adventure  in  verse,  and  set  it  to  mu^ic, 
and  you  would  have  been  sung  by  all  our  musical 
folks,  from  Major  Lumley  down  to  the  smallest  drum 
mer-boy.  You  are  a  lucky  fellow  ;  but  this  time, 
your  luck  has  lost  you  fame." 

"And  how  did  you  get  awray  at  last  ?"  asked  Sir 


392  THE  ACTRESS   IN  HiaH   LIFE. 

Rowland,  fully  convinced  that  L'Isle  had  been  a  pris 
oner,  under  lock,  bolt  and  bar. 

The  earth-stains  on  L'Isle's  clothes  might  have 
testified  that  he  had  gotten  a  bad  fall  in  jumping  out 
of  a  lady's  window,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
But  this  is  a  scandalous  world.  L'Isle  remembered 
Bradshawe,  without  looking  at  him,  and  evaded  the 
question. 

"  I  found  old  Hoodie,  lantern  in  hand,  at  the  open 
gate,  looking  as  if  he  had  drank  nothing  but  vinegar 
in  a  month,  the  picture  of  sour  sobriety  !" 

Sir  Rowland  had  striven  in  vain  not  to  join  in  the 
laugh;  but,  in  spite  of  himself,  was  much  diverted  at 
L'Isle's  adventure.  But  he  was  provoked  at  the 
usage  his  favorite  colonel  had  incurred,  for  the  best 
of  faults — too  much  zeal  for  the  service  ;  and  he 
longed  to  discuss  with  Lord  Strathern  the  propriety 
of  setting  traps  for  his  own  officers,  when  posting, 
with  important  intelligence,  to  their  common  com 
mander.  But  there  was  a  lady  in  the  case,  and  Sir 
Rowland  was  afraid  to  broach  the  subject  ;  Lord 
Strathern,  too,  though  his  subordinate  was  nearly  old 
enough  for  his  father — a  man  of  high  rank,  and  a 
known  good  soldier ;  so  he  put  oif  the  discussion  to 
a  more  convenient  season.  As  to  L'Isle,  Sir  Row 
land  had  been  watching  him  closely,  and  saw  some 
thing  in  his  eye  and  bearing  that  betrayed  too  much 
exasperation  for  him  to  be  trusted  to  return  at  once 
to  Elvas.  So,  Sir  Rowland  invented,  on  the  spot,  a 
special  duty  for  him,  and  bid  him  accompany  him, 
that  evening,  to  Coria. 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE.  393 


CHAPTER  XX. 

RALPH. — Help  down  with  the  hangings. 
ROGER. — By  and  by,  Ralph. 

I  am  making  up  the  trunks  here. 
RALPH. — Who  looks  to  my  lady's  wardrobe  ?     Humphrey  ! 

Down  with  the  boxes  in  the  gallery, 

And  bring  away  the  couch-cushions. 
SHOETHOSE.— "Will  it  not  rain  ? 

No  conjuring  abroad,  nor  no  devices 

To  stop  this  journey. 

—  Wit  without  Money. 

Away,  you  triflerl — Love? — I  love  thee  not: 
I  care  not  for  thee,  Kate ;  this  is  no  world 
To  play  with  mammets,  and  to  tilt  with  lips : 
"We  must  have  bloody  noses,  and  cracked  crowns, 
And  pass  them  current,  too.     Godsme,  my  horse  I 

—Henry  IV. 

LORD  STRATHERN  returned  the  next  day  to  Elvas, 
and  found  his  daughter  very  desolate,  and  full  of 
more  than  filial  anxiety  to  see  him.  She  was  alone, 
for  the  Commissary  had,  the  day  Before,  sent  off  his 
heavy  baggage  toward  Lisbon.  Lady  Mabel  would, 
at  any  time,  have  grieved  at  parting  with  a  true-heart 
ed  friend  like  Mrs.  Shortridge ;  but  now  other  troubles 
weighed  heavy  on  her,  and  so  aggravated  her  obvious 
grief,  while  the  chief  cause  was  hidden,  that  her  kind 
friend  was  deeply  moved  and  greatly  flattered  at  per 
ceiving  it.  Had  she  staid  longer  in  Elvas,  Lady  Mabel 
17 


894  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

would  have  confided  her  troubles  to  her,  knowing 
that,  though  she  might  not  think  wisely,  she  could 
feel  rightly,  and  give  both  advice  and  sympathy. 
But  after  a  struggle  of  hesitation,  she  let  Mrs.  Short- 
ridge  depart  in  ignorance,  receiving  from  her  many 
kind  messages  and  adieus  for  L'Isle. 

Perhaps  it  was  best  that  it  should  be  so ;  for,  had 
the  good  lady  learned  the  usage  her  favorite  had  met 
with,  she  might,  for  once  in  her  life,  have  boiled  over 
with  indignation. 

" Well,  Ma  Belle"  said  Lord  Strathern,  as  soon  as 
he  was  alone  with  his  daughter,  "  so  that  fellow,  L'Isle, 
beat  us,  after  all,  at  our  own  game.  I  did  expect  that 
your  woman's  wit  would  have  carried  it  through  suc 
cessfully." 

"Would  to  Heavens,  papa,  my  woman's  wit,  as  you 
call  it,  had  been  sufficient  to  keep  me  out  of  it  al 
together.  How  could  you  think  of  putting  such  a 
part  upon  me  ?  I  never  would  have  dreamed  of  it,  if 
you  had  not  urged — insisted  on  my  detaining  him 
here.  What  is  Colonel  L'Isle  to  me,  that  I  should 
manoeuvre  to  keep  him  in  Elvas,  when  Sir  Rowland 
Hill  expects  him  in  Alcantara  ?  And  as  for  my  re 
senting  your  quarrels  with  him,  there  is  an  impro 
priety  in  it,  and  yet  more  in  the  mode  you  made  me 
adopt.  I  am  ashamed  of  myself — I  am  ashamed  of 
you,  papa,  for  conceiving  it." 

"  And  to  fail,  after  all,"  said  Lord  Strathern.  "And 
yet,  by  L'Isle's  own  account,  you  played  your  part 
well." 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  395 

"  His  account!"  exclaimed  Lady  Mabel.  "  To 
whom:?" 

"To  us  all — Sir  Rowland,  Bradshawe,  Conway,  and 
myself.  He  was  disposed  to  be  sulky  and  silent,  at 
first ;  but,  with  Sir  Rowland's  help,  we  drew  it  all  out 
of  him." 

"Drew  it  all  out  of  him !"  said  Lady  Mabel,  in  a 
faltering  tone.  She  gasped  for  breath,  and  her  cheek 
grew  pale.  But  the  next  moment  the  blood  rushed 
into  her  face,  and  she  exclaimed :  "  What !  Did 
Colonel  L'Isle  give  you  a  full  account  of  the  party — 
of  all  that  occurred  that  evening  ?" 

"Full  and  minute.  He  was  very  reluctant  to  tell, 
as  we  were  all  laughing  at  him ;  but  Sir  Rowland  is 
a  good  inquisitor,  and  made  him  speak  out,  and  at 
length.  I  did  not  know  he  had  so  good  a  memory, 
or  you  so  much  wit." 

"For  Heaven's  sake,  papa,  what  did  he  tell  you?" 
Lady  Mabel  sat  watching  her  father  with  eager  eyes, 
her  hands  firmly  clasped,  and  her  heel  impatiently 
tapping  the  floor,  while  she  strove  to  master  her  al 
most  uncontrollable  confusion  and  anxiety. 

"  Why,  he  handed  me  your  note,"  said  Lord  Strath- 
ern.  "  Perhaps  he  meant  it  for  my  eye  alone  ;  but  it 
was  such  capital  bait  for  the  trap,  that  I  read  it  aloud. 
He  then  seemed  to  make  up  his  mind  to  conceal 
nothing.  He  told  us  of  your  artful  delays,  your  slow- 
paced  coach  crawling  up-hill ;  of  your  efforts  to  en 
tertain  Mrs.  Shortridge's  company,  and  keep  him  em 
ployed  as  interpreter;  your  songs  and  your  care  to 


396  THE   ACTKESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

prolong  the  amusements  of  the  evening ;  your  affect 
ed  fears  at  riding  home  in  your  old  coach  with  your 
new  postillion.  He  described  your  supper-party,  and 
repeated  your  entertaining  conversation,  your  libel  on 
Moodie,  gone  drunk  to  bed,  and  your  satire  on  Sir 
Rowland  and  the  rest  of  us ;  your  well-acted  terror  of 
robhers,  and  your  triumph  over  him  when  you  thought 
the  game  was  won.  If  you  had  not  been  over-confi 
dent  and  too  hasty,  Mabel,  we  would  have  had  L'Isle 
on  the  hip." 

"  Was  that  all  he  told  you  ?"  asked  Lady  Mabel. 

"Why?  Was  there  anything  more  to  te!H"  in 
quired  her  father. 

Lady  Mabel  drew  a  deep,  long  breath.  "  Then  he 
said  nothing  about  my — my  singing — '  Constant  my 
heart '  to  him  ?" 

"  How !"  exclaimed  Lord  Strathern.  "  Did  you 
sing  '  Constant  my  heart '  at  him  ?" 

"  How  could  I  help  it,  papa,  it  came  in  so  pat  to 
the  purpose  ?" 

"  The  devil  it  did  !  It  seems  you  did  not  mean  to 
fail,  by  under  acting  your  part.  It  is  lucky  he  forgot 
to  mention  it.  Was  there  any  thing  more?" 

"  And  he  said  nothing  about  squeezing  my  hand  in 
the  coach,"  asked  she,  hesitatingly,  "  when  I  showed 
so  much  fear  of  its  overturning?" 

"  Squeezing  your  hand  ?" 

"  Or  of  his  kissing  it,  after  supper  ?" 

"  What  !  Had  he  got  on  so  far  ?  And  pray, 
madam,  what  did  you  tell  him  ?" 


THE   ACTEESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  397 

"Tell  him!"  said  Lady  Mabel.  "I  was  acting  a 
part,  you  know,  papa ;  so  I  told  him  his  presumption 
had  put  Jenny  Aiken  quite  out  of  countenance." 

"  By  Jove  !  you  were  acting  your  part  with  a  ven 
geance!  Why  not  tell  him,  at  once,  never  to  kiss 
your  hand  when  a  third  person  was  present  ?" 

"  How  can  you  talk  so,  papa?  I  meant  no  such 
thing.  But  what  account  did  he  give  of  his  leaving 
the  house  ?" 

"Merely  that  he  hurried  away  when  you  unmasked 
the  plot  to  him  ;  hastened  to  Elvas  to  get  his  horse, 
and  post  off  to  Alcantara." 

"  Then  he  said  nothing  of  his  leaping  out  of  the 
window  ?" 

"  Did  he  leap  out  of  the  window  ?" 

"  Or  of  my  trying  to  hold  him  back  ?" 

"What!"  exclaimed  Lord  Strathern,  starting  up. 
"  Did  he  escape  by  jumping  out  of  the  window,  and 
you  try  to  detain  him  ?" 

"  The  height  was  so  great,  I  feared  he  would  break 
his  neck." 

"  Damn  his  neck  !"  said  Lord  Strathern,  striding 
up  and  down  the  room.  "  Better  a  neck  cracked 
than  a  reputation.  Tilings  have  come  to  a  pretty 
pass.  You  singing  love-songs  at  him,  he  squeezing 
and  kissing  your  hand — perhaps  going  further.  In 
these  cases,  women  never  tell  the  whole  truth  !  When 
he  would  escape  by  a  leap  from  your  window,  you 
try  to  keep  him  by  strength  of  arm.  You  get  on 
finely,  madam !  Three  months  in  the  army  have 


398  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

done  wonders  for  yon.  Three  months  more  will  ac 
complish  you  so  thoroughly,  that  you  will  be  fit  for 
no  other  society  through  life.  I  will  tell  you  what, 
Mabel,  I  will  not  lose  a  moment,  but  bundle  you  up, 
and  pack  you  off  to  your  aunt,  while  you  are  yet 
worth  sending  I" 

Between  shame  and  indignation  at  this  unjust  as 
sault  from  such  a  quarter,  poor  Lady  Mabel  burst 
into  tears,  and  rushed  off  to  her  room,  where  she 
locked  herself  up,  resolving  never  again  to  leave  it 
until  she  commenced  her  journey  homeward.  It  was 
not  long  before  her  hasty  father  repented  of  his  coarse 
and  violent  ^attack  on  her,  in  a  case  in  which  the 
heaviest  fault  was  his  own.  He  came  rapping  at  her 
door,  and  by  dint  of  apologies,  remonstrance,  and 
commands,  brought  her  out,  and  induced  her  to  spend 
the  evening  in  his  company.  And  a  very  uncomfort 
able  evening  it  was  to  both  of  them. 

Two  days  after  this,  L'Isle  rode  into  Elvas,  and 
brought  orders  with  him  that  set  the  town  astir.  Such 
a  breaking  up  of  all  the  comfortable  and  luxurious  ar 
rangements  of  messes  and  quarters  had  not  been 
lately  seen.  For  Elvas  was  the  Capua  of  the  brigade, 
which  had  to  lighten  itself  of  many  an  incumbrance, 
including  much  of  what  Shortridge  termed  its  heavy 
baggage,  in  order  to  bring  itself  to  a  condition  to 
march.  There  was  many  a  woeful  parting,  too,  and 
scandal  says  that  the  ladies  of  Elvas  might  have  laid 
the  dust  with  their  tears.  But  we  will  leave  these 
stories  to  Colonel  Bradshawe. 


THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH  LIFE.  399 

All  was  confusion  in  the  household  at  headquarters. 
Lord  Strath ern  had  to  bestir  himself,  to  get  both  his 
brigade  and  himself  ready  to  march  by  one  route, 
and  Lady  Mabel  had  to  prepare  for  her  journey  by 
another.  It  was  now  that  Moodie's  worth  shone 
manifestly  forth.  The  old  coach  and  harness  were 
overhauled  and  put  in  order.  He  secured,  we  be 
lieve,  by  impressment,  another  pair  of  mules  and 
two  postillions.  Every  leaf  of  the  kortus  siccus  was 
carefully  packed,  and  put  into  the  hands  of  an  ar- 
riero,  bound  for  Lisbon,  and  Jenny  Aiken  and  "Wil 
liam,  the  footman,  were  pulled  and  shoved  about  in 
a  way  that  convinced  them  that  it  was  time  to  be 
moving ;  yet  he  found  plenty  of  time  to  spur  up  my 
lord's  own  servants,  and  push  forward  their  prepara 
tions.  Busy  as  Lord  Strathern  was,  he  failed  not  to 
remark  Moodie's  prompt,  methodical,  and  energetic 
labors.  He  pronounced  him  the  prince  of  quarter 
masters,  and  a  heavy  loss  to  the  army.  "The  old 
fellow  would  evacuate  a  fortress,  or  conduct  a  retreat 
with  the  precision  of  a  parade,  and  not  leave  even  a 
dropped  cartridge  to  the  enemy  behind  him."  In 
fact,  had  Marshal  Soult  sworn  to  sack  Elvas  to-mor 
row,  Moodie  could  not  have  been  more  on  the  alert 
in  getting  Lady  Mabel  ready  to  leave  it.  Not  that 
he  was  afraid  of  a  Frenchman — he  would  willingly 
have  faced  him,  and  made  his  mark  upon  him — but 
when  all  might  be  lost,  and  nothing  gained  by  stay 
ing,  Moodie,  like  Xenophon,  was  proving  his  soldier 
ship  by  a  speedy,  yet  orderly  retreat.  He  was  carry- 


400  THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

ing  off  Lady  Mabel,  via  the  villages  of  Lisbon  and 
London,  to  his  stronghold  of  Craggy-side,  where,  he 
trusted,  she  would  be  safe  from  L'Isle  and  Popery. 

Many  signs  of  a  speedy  flitting  were  now  seen  about 
head-quarters.  Lady  Mabel  sat  melancholy  and  alone 
in  her  half-dismantled  drawTing-room.  To-morrow, 
she  is  again  to  enter  the  desert  of  Alemtejo,  on  her 
way  back  to  Lisbon.  What  a  relief  she  would  have 
found  in  busy  preparations,  even  for  that  dull  jour 
ney,  now  robbed  of  all  the  charms  of  novelty  and 
expectation  ;  but  Moodie's  industrious  alacrity  had 
deprived  her  even  of  this  resource.  She  was  ready, 
and,  instead  of  busy  preparations,  had  only  sad 
thoughts  to  occupy  her.  About  to  part  with  that 
father,  of  whom  she  had  known  more  in  the  last  three 
months  than  in  all  her  life  before,  for  hitherto  her's 
had  been  but  a  child's  knowledge  of  him — loving  him 
and  proud  of  him — for  the  defects  she  began  to  see 
she  viewed  but  as  minor  blemishes,  foreign  to  his 
nature,  and  due  solely  to  that  long  career  in  which  he 
had  known  no  home,  nor  companionship,  but  what 
he  found  in  garrison  and  field ;  she  could  not  con 
ceal  from  herself  the  new  career  of  danger  he  was 
about  to  run.  Everything  she  heard  indicated  that  he 
was  now  to  march  to  fields  where  war's  wild  work  would 
be  urged  on  with  a  fury,  and  on  a  scale  for  which  the 
last  five  campaigns,  great  as  their  results  had  been, 
were  but  the  preparation.  She  shuddered  to  think 
that,  yet  a  few  days  or  weeks,  and  the  veteran  of  near 
forty  years  of  service  may  lie  on  his  last  field.  This, 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  401 

perhaps,  was  not  her  greatest  grief,  but  she  strove  to 
make  it  so,  and  sat  gloomily  and  anxiously  awaiting 
her  father's  return  from  Elvas. 

Presently  she  heard  the  sound  of  horses'  hoofs 
clattering  on  the  pavement  of  the  court.  Rising 
from  her  melancholy  posture,  she  was  going  to  meet 
her  father,  when,  on  opening  the  door,  Colonel  L'Isle 
stood  before  her. 

All  the  incidents  of  the  last  evening  they  had  spent 
together,  particularly  those  which  he  had  so  carefully 
suppressed  from  the  narrative  wrung  from  him,  rush 
ed  upon  her  memory.  Her  folly  and  his  generous 
forbearance  stood  facing  each  other.  Casting  her  eyes 
on  the  floor,  and  grasping  the  handle  of  the  door,  to 
steady  her  tottering  frame,  she  could  only  gasp  out, 
"  I  expected  my  father." 

"  My  lord  is  very  busy  in  Elvas,  and  so  indeed  was 
I,"  said  L'Isle,  coolly ;  "  but,  as  I  march  at  sunrise 
to-morrow,  I  felt  bound  to  borrow  a  few  minutes  from 
duty  to  take  my  leave  of  Lady  Mabel  Stewart." 

She  now  recollected  herself  enough  to  let  go  the 
handle  of  the  door,  and  make  room  for  him  to  enter, 
and,  by  a  motion  of  the  hand,  invited  him  to  take  a 
seat. 

Taking  a  chair  near  her,  L'Isle  ran  his  eye  round 
the  well-remembered  room.  Perhaps  he  was  think 
ing  of  his  last  visit  here — perhaps  remarking  its  dis 
mantled,  comfortless  condition.  It  was  not  more 
changed  than  he  was.  All  his  earnest  frankness  of 
manner  was  gone.  He  seemed  to  have  borrowed  a 
17* 


402  THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

leaf  from  Colonel  Bradshawe's  book ;  and  his  air  of 
cool  self-possession,  his  imperturbable  manner,  under 
the  present  trying  circumstances,  would  have  excited 
that  gentleman's  admiration,  but  it  added  a  chill  to  the 
discomfort  of  Lady  Mabel's  position. 

Had  he  been  angry,  indignant,  haughty,  or  sullen, 
it  would  have  been  an  infinite  relief  to  her.  She 
might  have  known  how  to  deal  with  him,  and  per 
chance  have  soon  brought  him  round  to  a  very  differ 
ent  mood.  Now  L'lsle  evidently  waited  with  cool 
politeness  to  hear  some  sound  from  her  lips  ;  and 
she  at  length  stammered  out,  "I  am  very  sorry  that 
you  are  going — that  is,  that  papa  and  all  of  you  are 
going  so  soon." 

"  Our  pleasant  sojourn  in  Elvas  is  over !"  said 
L'lsle,  carelessly,  "and  Elvas  is  a  pleasant  place. 
Your  stay  here,  too,  has  been  quite  an  episode  in 
winter  quarters.  We  cannot  thank  you  too  much  for 
the  enlivening  influence  of  your  presence  among  us. 
I,  for  one,  will  ever  carry  with  me  a  vivid  recollection 
of  it." 

Lady  Mabel  bowed.  How  cold  and  formal  did  this 
sound  in  her  ears.. 

"To  do  ourselves  justice,"  continued  L'lsle,  "some 
of  us  have  not  been  remiss  in  our  eiforts  to  enable 
you  to  pass  your  time  pleasantly.  I  dare  say  now, 
were  I  to  hold  myself  to  a  strict  account,  I  could 
reckon  up  many  an  hour  stolen  from  the  dull  routine 
of  duty  to  devote  it  to  Lady  Mabel's  service." 

"I  am  surely  deeply  indebted  to  you  for  the  hours 


THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  403 

you  so  borrowed  to  bestow  on  me,"  Lady  Mabel  an 
swered,  much  at  a  loss  what  to  say,  and  looking  every 
way  but  at  L'Isle.  "  When  I  look  back,  I  cannot  but 
be  surprised  at  the  amount  of  my  gains,  the  knowl 
edge  and  amusement  I  have  crowded  into  three  short 
months,  and  chiefly  through  you." 

"  That  time  has  passed,  however,"  said  L'Isle  ;  "  I 
can  no  longer  be  at  hand  to  afford  you  amusement. 
And  as  for  knowledge,  although  older  than  you,  and 
knowing  more  of  life,  the  world,  and  perchance  of 
books,  I  doubt  whether  you  have  been  the  greatest 
gainer  in  our  intercourse.  But  feeling  a  deep  interest 
in  you,  I  sincerely  hope  that  you  may  gain  one  pre 
cious  lesson  through  me." 

"What  is  that?"  asked  Lady  Mabel  eagerly — for 
the  first  time  looking  fully  at  him. 

"  Never  again  heartlessly  to  throw  away  a  friend  ! !" 
L'Isle  said  this  more  gravely  than  bitterly.  Then 
rising,  he  bowed  respectfully  but  formally,  and  was 
turning  to  go  away. 

Can  she  let  him  go  without  one  word?  But  what 
can  she  say?  She,  at  length,  gasped  out,  "It  was 
papa's  doing." 

"  Your  father's  doing !"  exclaimed  L'Isle,  with  well- 
feigned  astonishment.  "  Then  Lady  Mabel  is  an 
automaton,"  he  added  scornfully,  "  and  I,  blockhead 
that  I  am,  never  found  it  out  till  no\v !  But  I  am 
thankful  for  wisdom  even  that  comes  too  late.  I  now 
know  Lady  Mabel  and  myself." 

Was  not  Lady  Mabel  now  disarmed  and  defence- 


404  THE   ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE. 

less  ?  Completely  at  his  mercy  ?  By  no  means  !  In 
this  extremity  she  sheltered  herself  behind  her  strong 
est  defences.  She  covered  her  face  with  her  hands, 
and  burst  into  tears. 

Was  ever  man  more  embarrassed  than  L'Isle  ?  His 
proud,  scornful  air,  vanished  like  a  snow-flake  in  the 
fire — and  forgetting  all  that  had  passed,  he  was  seiz 
ing  her  hands  to  draw  them  away  from  her  face, 
when  old  Moodie  abruptly  entered  the  room,  and 
called  out,  "  Colonel  L'Isle,  you  are  wanted  in 
Elvas ?" 

''What  the  devil  are  you  doing  here?"  said  L'Isle, 
turning  round  quickly,  and  placing  himself  so  as  to 
hide  Lady  Mabel's  face. 

"  My  duty,"  said  the  old  man  sternly,  "  and  they 
have  sent  for  you  to  attend  to  yours !"  for  he  saw  that 
something  had  gone  wrong;  and  he  longed  to  get 
L'Isle  out  of  the  house. 

Looking  into  the  passage,  L'Isle  now  saw  an  orderly, 
whom  Moodie  had  officiously  brought  up-stairs  from 
the  door,  and  he  hurried  out  to  receive  the  man's  mes 
sage,  and  send  him  off.  This  done,  he  hastily  re- 
entered  the  room  to  speak  to  Lady  Mabel.  But  he 
was  too  late!  The  bird  had  flown,  and  her  old 
Scotch  terrier  was  covering  her  retreat,  shutting  the 
door  of  the  next  room  behind  her,  and  spitefully  lock 
ing  it  in  L'Isle's  face. 

At  sunrise,  the  next  morning,  L'Isle  marched  his 
regiment  out  of  Elvas.  Setting  his  face  sternly  north 
ward,  he  never  once  looked  back  on  the  serried  ranks 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  405 

which  followed  him,  until  the  embattled  heights  of 
La  Lippe  had  hidden  Elvas  and  its  surroundings. 
Turning  his  back  upon  the  past,  he  strove  to  look  but 
to  the  future  ;  but  at  the  very  moment  of  this  resolve, 
memory  cheated  him,  and  he  caught  himself  repeat 
ing  a  line  of  Lady  Mabel's  song : 

"  All  else  forgotten,  "War  is  now  my  theme." 

and  the  thrilling  music  of  her  intonation  seemed  to 
swell  upon  his  ear.  He  hastily  exchanged  his  quota 
tion  for  a  greater  poet's  words : 

"  He  that  is  truly  dedicate  to  war, 
Hath  no  self-love." 

If  it  be  possible  to  forget,  he  will  have  ample  oppor 
tunity,  amidst  the  crash  of  armies  and  the  crumbling 
of  an  empire,  to  erase  from  his  memory  Elvas,  and 
its  "  episode  in  winter  quarters."  From  the  heights 
of  Traz  os  Montes,  Wellington  was  now  to  make  an 
eagle's  swoop  upon  the  north  of  Spain,  and  a  lion's 
spring  upon  the  herd,  driven  into  the  basin  of  Vittoria. 
The  march  now  begun  was  to  lead  thence  to  the 
blood-sfained  passes  of  the  Pyrennees,  to  Bayonne, 
Orthes,  r.nd  Toulouse,  and  later,  to  Paris,  from  the 
h'eld  of  Waterloo.  But  who  shall  measure,  step  by 
step,  over  conquered  enemies  and  fallen  friends,  this 
long  eventful  road? 

"  To  die  beneath  the  hoofs  of  trampling  steeds, 
That  is  the  lot  of  heroes  upon  earth  I" 


40(5  THE   ACTttESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 


CONCLUSION. 

He  that  commends  me  to  mine  own  content, 
Commends  me  to  the  thing  I  cannot  get. 
I  to  the  world  am  like  a  drop  of  water, 
That  in  the  ocean  seeks  another  drop ; 
Who,  falling  there  to  find  his  fellow  forth, 
Unseen,  inquisitive,  confounds  himself. 

COMEDY  OP  ERRORS. 

THREE  eventful  years  have  passed,  and  a  general 
peace  is  giving  rest  to  exhausted  Europe.  The  war 
has  cut  off  many  a  brave  man  ;  but  it  remained  for 
peace  to  terminate  the  military  career  of  a  rising  sol 
dier  in  L'Isle's  person  ;  and  sad  to  say,  before  he  was 
either  Major  general  or  knight  of  the  Bath  ;  though 
sought  in  many  a  dangerous  path,  he  had  not  found 
his  golden  spurs. 

Regiments  have  been  disbanded,  his  comrades  are 
scattered,  and  he  himself  has  nothing  to  do,  not  even 
the  poor  resource  of  having  to  study  economy  on 
half-pay,  or  of  looking  for  more  additional  means  to 
eke  out  a  living. 

It  is  the  curse  of  those  entirely  engrossing  pursuits, 
which  excite  all  our  enthusiasm,  and  task  every  ener 
gy,  arid  of  which  the  statesman's  and  the  soldier's 
callings  are  the  best  examples,  that,  when  they  fail  us, 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  407 

we  can  find  no  substitute.  All  things  else  are,  by 
comparison,  stale,  flat,  and  unprofitable.  Can  the 
brandy  drinker  cheer  himself  with  draughts  of  small 
beer  ?  Screw  up  his  nervous  energies  to  their  ac 
customed  tone  with  slops? 

Tired  to  death  of  fox-hunting,  pleasant  shooting,  and 
country  neighbors ;  all  the  means  of  excitement  around 

him  exhausted,  L'Isle  lounged  in  the  library  at  C d 

Hall,  with  half  a  dozen  open  but  discarded  volumes 
before  him,  revolving  in  his  mind  all  possible  means 
of  occupation.  At  one  time  he  would  resolve  to  travel 
the  world  over,  and  get  up  a  personal  narrative,  at- 
tractiw  as  that  of  Humboldt,  and  views  of  nature, 
that  should  look  through  nature's  surface  to  the  re 
cognition  of  Nature's  God,  whom  the  philosopher 
seems  never  to  have  found  in  all  his  works.  At  an 
other  time,  in  order  more  effectively  to  counteract  the 
ill  effects,  on  mind  and  habits,  of  the  soldier's  excit 
ing  and  unsettled  life,  he  resolves  to  subject  himself 
to  still  severer  regimen:  not  to  go  rambling  about  the 
world,  an  idling  philosopher,  but  to  tie  himself  down 
to  one  spot,  and  take  violently  to  a  course  of  high 
farming ;  grow  the  largest  turnips,  breed  the  fattest 
South-downs,  and  the  heaviest  Devonshires,  and  carry 
off  agricultural  prizes  as  substitutes  for  additional 
Waterloo  medals. 

But  this  was  too  severe  a  contrast  to  his  late  mode 
of  life,  and  the  prospect  soon  disgusted  him  utterly. 
Having  strong  influence  to  back  him,  he  now  thought 
of  getting  a  seat  in  Parliament,  and  for  a  moment  the 


408  THE   ACTEESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE. 

prophetic  cries  of  '  Hear !  hear !'  arose  from  both  sides 
of  a  full  House  of  Commons.  But  he  knew  that  the 
occasion,  even  more  than  the  man,  makes  the  orator ; 
and  in  '  this  weak  piping  time  of  peace,'  these  cost- 
counting,  debt-paying  days,  he  foresaw  no  occasion 
that  could  call  forth  the  thunders  of  Demosthenes  or 
Burke. — But  although  a  new  light  shines  in  upon  him, 
and  he  suddenly  makes  up  his  mind  that,  since  he  can 
no  longer  take  the  field,  because  all  the  world  is  tired 
of  fighting,  and  yet  more  of  paying  the  bills  run  up 
in  that  expensive  diversion,  he  will  write  the  narrative 
of  the  campaigns  in  which  he  had  taken  part,[without 
letting  the  'quorum  pars  magna  fid'  fill  too  large  a 
place  in  the  picture. — Where  can  he  find  so  much  of 
the  materials  needed  in  the  construction  of  his  work 
as  in  London  ?  So  to  London  he  went. 

The  season  was  at  its  height,  and  the  town  was 
full.  L'Isle's  object  required  that  he  should  not  only 
examine  many  musty  papers,  but  see  many  persons; 
as  some  of  his  gayer  friends  soon  found  him  out,  and 
induced  him  to  look  in  upon  the  inner  circles  of  Lon 
don  fashionable  life,  to  which  his  early  and  long  ab 
sence  from  England  had  kept  him  a  stranger. 

It  so  happened  that  Lord  Strathern  had  come  np 
from  his  moors,  where  the  winter  had  got  too  cold  for 
him  (the  climate  had  changed  much  since  he  was  a 
boy),  to  visit  the  clubs  and  meet  old  comrades.  But 
these  proved  top  much  for  the  old  veteran,  who  soon 
had  to  shut  himself  up,  in  order  to  stave  off  an  attack 
of  his  old  enemy,  the  gout.  lie  would  not,  however, 


THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  409 

permit  Lady  Mabel  to  stand  the  siege  with  him.  The 
consequence  was,  that  not  long  after  L'Isle  had  come 
up  to  London,  he  found  himself  in  one  of  Lady 

D 's  thronged  rooms,  within  four  steps  of  Lady 

Mabel. 

In   three   years  she  had  become,   if  we  may   be 
pardoned  the  bull,  more  like  herself  than  ever,  for  she 
was  now  all  that  she  had  promised  to.be.     She  shone 
out  in  a  richer  and  riper  beauty,  and  a  more  sedate 
and  womanly  deportment  set  it  off,  retaining  not  the 
least  trace  of  that  somewhat  cavalier  manner  she  had 
picked  up  in  the  brigade.     She  was  more  than  three 
years  wiser,  and  certainly  more  dangerous  than  ever. 
L'Isle   had   long  and   studiously   schooled  himself 
to  the  conviction  that  his  fair  and  fascinating  com 
panion  in  Elvas  was,  after  all,  but  a  heartless  woman. 
Yet  his  vanity,  to  say  nothing  of  any  other  feeling, 
had  never  quite  gotten  over  the  rude  shock  it  had  re 
ceived  on  Mrs.  Shortridge's  great  night  there.     His 
first  thought  was  to  withdraw  from   the  dangerous 
neighborhood.     But  he  blushed  at  his  own  cowardice; 
and  the  moment  after,  having  caught  her  eye,  he, 
self-confident,  made  his  way  through  the  crowd,  and 
greeted  her  politely  as  an  old  acquaintance.     It  was 
plain  that  she  was  a  little  nervous  on  his  approach; 
her  lips  were  compressed  for  a  moment,  and  she  drew 
more    than   one   deep   breath,    while   watching   him 
closely,  arid  carefully   modeling  her. manner  by  his. 
Yet  no  stranger  could  have  inferred,  from  word  or 
look,  that  they  had  not  met  for  years,  still  less  that 


410  THE   ACTKESS  IX  HIGH   LIFE. 

they  had  ever  met  on  terms  of  intimacy.  If  L'Isle 
needlessly  prolonged  the  conversation,  to  the  annoy 
ance  of  the  gentlemen  at  her  elbow,  his  sole  object 
was  to  prove  to  her,  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt, 
by  his  easy  self-possession,  that  he  had  now,  at  least, 
attained  to  a  sublime  indifference  where  she  was  con 
cerned. 

The  ice  once  broken,  accident  seemed  to  throw 
them  frequently  into  the  same  company.  L'Isle  doubt 
less  needed  relaxation  from  his  historical  labors ;  and 
a  London  season  had  at  least  the  attraction  of  novelty 
for  him.  He  was,  too,  just  the  man  to  win  friends 
among  the  ladies  ;  yet  he  still  made  it  a  point,  when 
ever  he  met  Lady  Mabel,  to  bestow  on  her  a  few 
minutes  cold  attention  and  indifferent  notice,  for  old 
acquaintance  sake. 

Lady  Mabel  stood  in  no  need  of  these  attentions. 
It  was  not  her  first  season  ;  and  many  a  butterfly, 
that  hovered  about  that  garden  which  blooms  in  win 
ter  at  the  West-End,  had  hailed  with  delight  the  re 
appearance  of  this  rare  flower.  And  she  liked  to 
have  them  buzzing  about  her ;  it  was  her  due,  and 
yielded  pleasant  pastime.  Yet  while  busiest  dealing 
sentiment,  jest,  and  repartee  among  them,  she  now 
had  always  an  ear  and  a  word  for  L'Isle,  when  he 
condescended  to  bestow  a  few  minutes  cold  considera 
tion  on  her. 

Her  gentlemen  in  waiting  wondered  at  her  having 
so  much  to  say  to  L'Isle.  She  seemed  to  be  under  an 
obligation  to  be  at  leisure  for  him ;  and  Sir  Charles 


THE    ACTRESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  411 

Moreton,  who  was  argus-eyed  where  Lady  Mabel 
was  concerned,  ventured  to  ask  :  "  What  pleasure  can 
you  find  in  talking  to  this  austere  soldier  ?  His 
smile  is  a  sneer ;  he  warms  only  to  grow  caustic,  and 
his  cynical  air  betrays  how  little  he  cares  even  for 
you." 

"  Were  you  ever  clogged  with  sweet  things  ?"  asked 
Lady  Mabel.  "  At  times  I  tire  of  bonbons,  and  long 
for  vinegar,  salt  and  pepper.  My  austere  friend  deals 
in  these  articles." 

She  seemed  to  have  found  a  special  use  for  him, 
treating  him  as  a  complete  thinking  machine,  of  high 
powers  of  observation,  inflection,  thought  and  reason, 
but  not  susceptible  of  aught  that  savored  of  feeling, 
sentiment  or  passion.  She  quietly  threw  the  mantle 
of  Mentor  over  his  shoulders,  deferred  to  his  judgment, 
had  recourse  to  him  as  a  store-house  of  knowledge  ; 
and  seemed  so  fully  impressed  with  the  fact  that  he 
had  a  head,  as  utterly  to  forget  the  probability  of  his 
having  a  heart.  With  a  strange  perversity,  L'Isle  was 
at  once  flattered  and  annoyed  at  the  use  she  made  of 
him.  It  was  an  unequal  game  he  was  playing,  like  a 
moth  fluttering  round  a  candle.  His  temper  began  to 
be  worn  threadbare,  and  oftener  than  ever  he  repeated 
to  himself,  "  She  is  a  heartless  woman  !" 

In  this  mood  L'Isle  was  listening,  with  a  curled  lip, 
to  an  animated  discussion  between  Lady  Mabel,  Sir 
Charles  Moreton,  and  another  gentleman,  as  to  the 
merits  of  a  new  actress,  a  dramatic  meteor,  then  briefly 
eminent  on  the  London  boards.  The  Honorable  Mr. 


412  -     THE   ACTRESS  IN   HIGH  LIFE. 

L ,  who  was  a  savant  in  the  small  sciences  that 

cater  to  amusement,  pronounced  her  the  Siddons  of 
the  day ;  Lady  Mabel  called  her  a  ranter,  then,  as  if 
alarmed»at  her  temerity,  appealed  as  usual  to  L'Isle. 

"No  one  can  be  a  better  judge  of  acting  than  Lady 
Mabel,"  said  L'Isle.     "But  for  her  opinion,  I  would 
call  your  favorite  an  indifferently  good  actress." 
Thus  to  "  damn  with  faint  praise,"  displeased  Mr. 

L more  than  positive  censure,  and  he  exclaimed  : 

"  Then  you  never  saw  her  play  Jane  Shore.  The  illu 
sion  is  perfect.  The  house  is  deceived  into  forgetting 
the  drama,  to  witness  the  living  and  dying  agonies  of 
the  desolate  penitent.  Who  can  equal  her?" 

"  Many,"  answered  L'Isle  ;  "  and  Lady  Mabel  can 
do  better." 

"  Lady  Mabel !  She  doubtless  excels  in  everything. 
But  I  never  saw  her  act." 

"I  have,"  said  L'Isle  bitterly.     "The  illusion  of 

Mrs. 's  acting  is  limited  to  the  spectators.     Lady 

Mabel  deceives  him  who  acts  with  her." 

Lady  Mabel  turned  pale,  and  then  red,  while  the 
two  gentlemen  stared  at  her  and  L'Isle  alternately. 
Suddenly  exclaiming,  "There  is  my  friend,  Mrs. 

B .     I  have  not  seen  her  for  a  month.     I  must  go 

and  speak  to  her,"  she  accepted  the  arm  of  the  savant 
in  small  things,  and  hastened  after  her  friend,  who 
had  appeared  so  opportunely. 

"  You  set  little  value  on  Lady  Mabel's  favors,"  said 
Sir  Charles,  looking  inquisitively  at  L'Isle.  "You 
have  certainly  offended  her  greatly." 


THE   ACTKESS   IN   HIGH   LIFE.  413 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?"  said  L'Isle  coldly.  "  Then  I 
suppose  I  must  apologize  and  beg  my  peace." 

"  If  you  do  it  successfully,"  said  his  companion, 
"  I  will  be  glad  of  a  lesson  from  you  in  the  art." 

L'Isle  was  angry  with  himself.  Not  that  he  felt 
that  he  owed  Lady  Mabel  any  amends.  But  he  had 
never  until  now  made  the  slightest  allusion  to  certain 
scenes  in  the  past.  Pride  had  forbidden  it.  And  he 
was  still  reproaching  himself  with  his  want  of  self-con 
trol,  when,  on  entering  another  room,  he  saw  Lady 
Mabel  seated  between  two  old  ladies,  having  ensconced 

*  O 

herself  there  to  get  rid  of  the  small  savant. 

She  no  longer  looked  discomposed  or  angry,  nor  did 
she  turn  her  eyes  away  on  his  approach.  She  almost 
seemed  to  wish  to  speak  to  him.  So  he  offered  his 
arm,  and  they  walked  toward  the  room  he  had  just  left- 

"  I  know  that  you  are  too  proud,"  she  said,  "  to  ask 
my  pardon  for  the  attack  you  made  on  me  just  now. 
So  I  wish  to  tell  you  that  I  have  already  forgiven  it." 

"That  is  truly  generous,"  said  L'Isle,  with  haughty 
irony.  "You  prove  the  adage  false  which  says,  'The 
injurer  never  forgives.'  r 

u  Say  you  so  ?  I  see  then  that  you  have  gone  back 
years  to  dig  up  old  offences.  Although  I  remember, 
to  repent  of  them,  I  trusted  that  you  would  have  wil 
lingly  forgiven  and  forgot  my  folly,  or  only  recall  it 
to  laugh  at  it.  I  know  now,"  she  said,  stealing  a  look 
at  him,  "  that  you  are  of  an  unforgetting,  unforgiving 
temper."  Then  looking  away,  she  added,  "I  thought 
better  of  you  once." 


414  THE  ACTRESS  IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

"There  are  some  things,"  answered  L'Isle,  but  in  a 
softened  tone,  "not  to  be  forgotten,  nor  easily  for 
given." 

"  I  assure  you,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  with  the  air  of  a 
penitent,  "  I  have  been  terribly  ashamed  of  myself 
ever  since.  Had  I  known  that  you  still  viewed  my 
thoughtless  conduct  as  a  serious  wrong  to  yon,  I  would 
willingly  have  made  you  any  apology,  any  reparation." 

"  Apologies  would  hardly  reach  the  evil,"  said 
L'Isle.  "  But  any  reparation  !  That  is  a  broad  term." 

"  Any,  I  mean,  that  you  ought  to  ask,  or  I  to  make." 

"  There  would  be  no  absolute  impropriety  in  my 
asking  a  good  deal,"  said  L'Isle,  in  tones  that  remind 
ed  Lady  Mabel  of  some  witching  moments  in  Elvas, 
"  I  will  not  make  the  blunder  of  asking  too  little,"  he 
added  resolutely.  "  Let  me  first  ask  when  you  will 
be  at  home  to-morrow — at  three?" 

"  Certainly  at  three  ;  more  certainly  at  two,"  she 
answered  in  a  low  tone. 

"  And  most  certainly  at  one,"  said  he  joyously.  "  I 
like  your  superlative  degree  of  comparison." 

"  I  only  meant,"  she  said,  yet  more  confused,  "  that 
I  am  more  Mkely  to  be  at  home  alone  at  two."  And 
turning  quickly  away,  she  took  a  vacant  seat  beside 
one  of  her  friends,  to  whom,  while  fanning  herself,  she 
complained  of  the  heated  room.  She  seemed,  indeed, 
quite  overcome  by  it,  which  accounted  for  her  labored 

breathing  and  heightened  color. 

•x-         >#         #          •*          *         •*         *•         #         * 

"  After  all,"  said  Lady  Mabel,  some  days  after  the 


THE   ACTRESS  IN  HIGH  LIFE.  415 

morning  on  which  L'Isle  found  her  at  home  alone,  "  I 
was -neither  so  good  an  actress,  nor  so  great  a  hypo 
crite  as  you  took  me  for.  My  offence  was  not  so 
much  that  I  simulated,  as  that  I  ceased  to  dissemble." 

L'Isle  readily  embraced  the  faith  that  she  was  no 
actress  but  a  true  woman,  nor  did  he  ever  waver  from 
it.  But  she  did  not  always  find  so  easy  a  convert. 
Old  Moodie,  true  to  his  nature,  baffled  all  her  efforts 
to  convince  him  of  his  errors.  It  is  true  that  he  be 
came  in  time,  somewhat  reconciled  to  L'Isle,  but  to 
his  dying  day  he  continued  to  laud  that  special  provi 
dence,  which  had  snatched  Lady  Mabel  from  the  land 
of  idolatry,  at  the  very  last  moment  before  her  per 
version  to  Rome. 

Lady  Mabel  was  not  the  woman  to  forget  old 
friends ;  and  now,  that  she  could  recur  with  pleasure 
to  her  recollections  of  Elvas,  she  sought  out  that  com- 

/  ^ 

panion  who  had  so  amiably  filled  the  part  of  duenna 
and  chaperon.  She  and  Mrs.  Shortridge  fought  all 
their  battles  over  again,  by  retracing,  step  by  step, 
varied  excursions  and  toilsome  journey,  while  enjoy 
ing  all  the  comforts  of  an  English  home.  But  it  never 
does  to  tell  all  that  we  do,  still  less,  to  lay  open  the 
spirit  in  which  we  do  it.  Lady  Mabel  never  let  Mrs. 
Shortridge  fully  into  the  secret  history  of  the  last  dark 
treacherous  scene  in  the  episode  in  winter  quarters. 

Lord  Strathern  wras  much  pleased  to  tind  that  L'Isle 
had  greatly  modified  his  opinion,  as  to  the  mechanical 
nature  of  an  army,  and  hoped  in  time  to  dispel  certain 
other  erroneous  notions,  to  which  he  had  formerly 


416  THE   ACTRESS   IN  HIGH   LIFE. 

clung  so  stubbornly.  It  is  not  known  whether  or  not 
L'Isle  ever  finished  his  narrative  of  the  Peninsular 
campaigns.  It  is  certain  that  he  never  published  it. 
The  author  often  labors  harder  than  the  ploughman  ; 
and  when  a  man  is  made  happy,  he  becomes  lazy. 
Let  the  wretched  toil  to  mend  his  lot,  or  to  format  it. 


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